HORACE  W.  CARPENTER 


SPIRITISM 

AND  THE   CULT  OF  THE  DEAD 

IN  ANTIQUITY 


jrt^g^ 


THE    MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

NEW  YORK    •    BOSTON   •    CHICAGO    •    DALLAS 
ATLANTA   •    SAN  FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO..  Limited 

LONDON    •     BOMBAY    •    CALCUTTA 
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THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


SPIRITISM 

AND  THE  CULT  OF  THE  DEAD 

IN  ANTIQUITY 


BY 

LEWIS   BAYLES    PATON,   Ph.D.,   D.D. 

NETTLETON   PROFESSOR   OF   OLD   TESTAMENT    EXEGESIS   AND   CRITICISM 
HARTFORD   THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

1921 

AU  rights  reserved 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


Copyright,  1921, 
By  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  printed.     Published  October,  1921. 


Press  of 

J.  J.  Little  &  Ives  Company 

New  York,  U.  S.  A. 


TO 

MY    COLLEAGUES    IN    THE    FACULTY    OF 

HARTFORD    SEMINARY    FOUNDATION 

IN     MEMORY     OF     THE     YEARS     OF 

WORK  AND  FELLOWSHIP  TOGETHER 

THIS    BOOK    IS    GRATEFULLY 

DEDICATED   BY  THE  AUTHOR 


4C97'-" 


PREFACE 

During  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  interest  in  the 
phenomena  of  Spiritism,  or  Spiritualism  as  it  is  popu- 
larly called,  has  been  growing  steadily  throughout  the 
Western  world.  The  Societies  of  Psychical  Research 
in  England,  Germany,  France,  and  America  have  gath- 
ered a  vast  body  of  data,  and  have  subjected  these  to 
searching  criticism.  The  results  of  these  investigations 
have  been  published  in  the  journals  of  the  various  socie- 
ties, and  have  been  popularized  in  the  writings  of  such 
authors  as  Mr.  Andrew  Lang,  Mr.  F.  W.  H.  Myers, 
Professor  James  Hyslop,  Professor  William  James. 
Whereas  formerly  an  attitude  of  Sadducean  scepticism 
toward  all  the  alleged  facts  of  Spiritism  was  maintained 
by  religion  and  by  rationalism  alike,  at  the  present  time 
no  doubt  is  felt  concerning  the  existence  of  hypnosis, 
somnambulism,  automatic  action,  ecstasy,  significant 
dreams,  visions,  auditions,  telepathy,  telesthesia,  mind- 
reading,  foreboding  of  the  future,  and  all  the  other 
abnormal  phenomena  of  the  psychical  life.  The  only 
difference  of  opinion  is  in  regard  to  the  interpretation  of 
these  phenomena.  Many  scientific  investigators  think 
that  they  can  be  explained  completely  by  the  influence  of 
living  minds  upon  themselves  and  upon  other  minds; 
other  equally  scientific  investigators  hold  that  this  expla- 
nation is  unsatisfactory,  and  that  the  ancient  theory  of 
the  activity  of  disembodied  spirits  alone  accounts  for  all 
the  facts. 

The  events  of  the  recent  world-war  have  awakened 
widespread  popular  interest  in  the  discussion  of  this 
question.     Millions  of  choice  young  men  of  all  civilized 


viii  PREFACE 

lands  have  died  in  the  conflict;  and  their  mourning  fami- 
lies and  friends  have  had  to  face  anew  the  ancient  ques- 
tion, "If  a  man  dieth,  shall  he  live  again?"  Many  who 
are  destitute  of  religious  faith,  or  who  have  found  their 
faith  unequal  to  the  strain,  have  sought  eagerly  for 
psychical  evidence  of  the  continued  existence  of  their 
beloved  after  death.  Accordingly,  the  last  five  years 
have  witnessed  a  wave  of  popular  enthusiasm  for  the 
study  of  Spiritism.  The  lectures  and  the  writings  of  such 
literary  men  as  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  Sir  A.  Conan  Doyle, 
and  Mr.  Maurice  Maeterlinck,  have  been  received  with 
enthusiasm  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  The  planchette, 
the  gazing-crystal,  and  the  seance  have  been  cultivated 
by  multitudes  with  extraordinary  assiduity,  in  the  hope 
of  obtaining  through  them  scientific  proof  of  immortality. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  has  seemed  to  the  present 
writer  that  it  would  be  both  interesting  and  timely  to  pre- 
sent a  study  of  similar  psychical  manifestations  in 
antiquity.  All  the  occurrences  that  are  associated  with 
modern  Spiritism  have  been  known  from  the  earliest 
times,  and  have  been  interpreted  as  due  to  the  influence 
of  discarnate  spirits.  The  great  historic  religions  of 
China,  India,  Babylonia,  Assyria,  Egypt,  Israel,  Greece, 
and  Rome  are  full  of  so-called  "spiritistic"  phenomena, 
of  beliefs  based  upon  these  facts,  and  of  rites  of  worship 
based  upon  these  beliefs.  No  scientific  study  of  the  sub- 
ject can  be  complete  without  taking  into  consideration  the 
ancient  as  well  as  the  modern  evidence.  The  aim  of  the 
present  work  is  to  present  in  outline  the  main  elements  of 
the  ancient  evidence. 

In  the  fields  of  Semitic  religion  and  of  the  religions  of 
Israel,  Greece,  and  Rome,  the  author  has  been  able  to 
work  at  first  hand  from  the  sources;  in  the  cases  of  the 
religions  of  China,  India,  Egypt,  and  some  of  the  Indo- 
European  races,  he  has  been  obliged  to  depend  upon  the 
researches  of  others.  He  has  endeavoured  to  follow  the 
best  authorities,  whose  works  are  cited  in  the  footnotes; 


PREFACE  ix 

and  he  has  submitted  his  results  to  the  criticism  of  special- 
ists. In  the  chapter  on  Spiritism  in  China  he  gratefully 
acknowledges  the  assistance  of  Rev.  Lewis  Hodous,  B.D., 
Professor  of  Chinese  in  the  Kennedy  School  of  Missions 
of  the  Hartford  Seminary  Foundation,  and  of  Edward 
K.  Thurlow,  B.D.,  missionary  of  the  Protestant  Episco- 
pal Church  in  Wuhu,  China.  In  the  chapters  on  the  Indo- 
Europeans  he  has  had  the  expert  aid  of  Leroy  Carr 
Barrett,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Sanskrit  in  Trinity  College, 
Hartford,  Connecticut.  The  chapter  on  Spiritism  in 
Egypt  would  have  been  impossible  without  constant  use 
of  the  Ancient  Records  of  Egypt,  and  the  Development 
of  Religion  and  Thought  in  Ancient  Egypt,  by  James 
Henry  Breasted,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Egyptology  in  the 
University  of  Chicago.  Dr.  Breasted  has  also  kindly 
given  the  author  the  benefit  of  his  criticism  of  this  chap- 
ter before  publication.  Thanks  also  are  due  the  editors 
of  the  Biblical  World  for  permission  to  use  certain  mate- 
rial on  the  Hebrew  conception  of  the  future  life,  by  the 
author  of  the  present  book,  that  appeared  in  successive 
numbers  of  this  journal  from  January  to  May,  19 10. 

In  matters  connected  with  Armenian  religion  and 
Armenian  equivalents  of  Indo-European  words  much 
help  has  been  received  from  Professor  Mardiros 
Harootioon  Ananikian,  S.T.M.,  of  the  Kennedy  School 
of  Missions.  The  chapters  on  "Immortality  in  Judaism" 
and  "Immortality  in  the  Teaching  of  Jesus"  have  received 
the  valuable  criticism  of  Professor  Edward  Everett 
Nourse,  D.D.,  and  of  Professor  Melanchthon  Williams 
Jacobus,  D.D.,  of  Hartford  Theological  Seminary.  In 
all  stages  of  the  work  the  author  has  been  assisted  by  his 
wife,  and  without  her  aid  this  book  could  never  have 
been  completed. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.     Spiritism  in  Primitive  Religion       ....  i 

II.     Spiritism  in  China 16 

III.  Spiritism  among  the  Indo-Europeans    .      .      .  60 

IV.  The   Cult   of   the    Dead   among   the   Indo- 

Europeans       114 

V.  Spiritism  in  Egypt 152 

VI.  Spiritism  among  the  Early  Semites     .      .      .  200 
VII.     Spiritism  in  Babylonia  and  Assyria     .      .      .  211 

VIII.     Earliest  Hebrew  Conception  of  the  Dead    .  232 

IX.     Babylonian    Influence  on    Hebrew   Concep- 
tions of  the  Dead 240 

X.     Worship  of  the  Dead  by  Israel     ....  248 

XI.     Early   Opposition   to   the   Worship   of   the 

Dead  by  Israel 257 

XII.     Prophetic  and  Legal  Denial  of  the  Vitality 

of  Spirits 268 

XIII.     New  Theories  of  Immortality  in  Post-Exilic 

Judaism 280 

XIV.    The  Teaching  of  Jesus  in   Regard  to   Im- 
mortality    290 

Index 309 


SPIRITISM 

AND  THE   CULT  OF   THE  DEAD 

IN  ANTIQUITY 


SPIRITISM  AND   THE  CULT  OF 
THE   DEAD  IN  ANTIQUITY 

CHAPTER  I 

SPIRITISM  IN  PRIMITIVE  RELIGION 

From  the  earliest  period  of  human  history  no  literary 
records  have  come  down  to  us.  In  lack  of  direct  historical 
evidence,  accordingly,  we  are  compelled  to  turn  to  the 
indirect  testimony  of  comparative  religion.  Beliefs  and 
rites  that  existed  among  all  ancient  peoples,  and  that 
still  exist  among  savages,  may  safely  be  regarded  as 
primitive.  Applying  this  method  to  the  study  of  the 
earliest  conception  of  the  future  life,  we  reach  the  follow- 
ing conclusions : 

a.  The  Distinction  between  Soul  and  Body. — Death 
is  the  "king  of  terrors,"  yet  it  is  the  greatest  teacher  of 
our  race.  Without  it  men  could  never  have  learned  the 
difference  between  body  and  spirit;  and  without  the  idea 
of  spirit,  God  could  not  have  been  conceived,  and  religion 
would  have  been  impossible.  When  men  first  began  to 
think,  they  were  confronted  with  the  fact  of  death.  Their 
companion,  felled  by  a  blow,  or  smitten  by  a  disease,  lay 
prostrate  before  them.  In  outward  appearance  he  was 
the  same,  but  he  was  unconscious  of  all  that  they  did,  and 
he  could  not  respond  either  by  word  or  by  motion.  It 
was  evident  even  to  the  most  rudimentary  intelligence 
that  an  invisible  something  had  gone  out  of  the  man. 
This  intangible  element  the  Zulus,  some  tribes  of  Ameri- 
can Indians,  and  other  savages  identify  with  the  shadow 
cast  by  the  body  during  life;  similarly  the  Greeks  and  the 


2  SPIRITISM  I 

Romans  spoke  of  the  "shades."  Closely  allied  is  the 
Egyptian  conception  of  the  ka,  or  "double,"  that  accom- 
panied the  body  during  life  as  its  exact  counterpart.  The 
Andaman  Islanders  and  some  other  equally  low  races 
identify  the  immaterial  part  of  man  with  the  reflection 
seen  in  still  water,  or  with  the  image  formed  in  the  pupil 
of  another  person's  eye.  The  Australian  bushmen  regard 
it  as  a  sort  of  fog  or  smoke.  Most  primitive  peoples 
observed  the  fact  that  breathing  ceases  at  death,  and 
therefore  identified  the  vital  principle  with  the  breath. 
In  many  languages  the  words  for  "spirit"  denote  pri- 
marily "breath,"  or  "wind,"  e.g.,  Skr.,  prana;  Gr., 
pneuma,  anemos;  Lat.,  spiritus,  anima;  Germ,  and  Eng., 
Geist,  ghost,  which  are  etymologically  connected  with 
gust. 

b.  The  Continued  Existence  of  the  Disembodied 
Soul. — Primitive  man  believed  not  only  in  the  distinction 
between  soul  and  body  but  also  in  the  ability  of  the  soul 
to  survive  the  catastrophe  of  death.  The  Paleolithic 
cave-dwellers  of  the  Quarternary  period  in  Belgium  and 
France  were  contemporary  with  the  mammoth,  the  cave- 
lion,  and  the  cave-bear.  Their  skulls  show  that  they  were 
nearer  the  apes  than  any  existing  race  of  man.  They 
were  dressed  in  skins,  and  armed  only  with  the  rudest 
undressed  stone  implements;  yet  they  placed  with  their 
dead  ornaments,  tools,  arms,  and  food  for  use  in  the 
other  life,  and  celebrated  funeral  feasts  in  their  honour. 

The  same  was  true  of  the  cave-dwellers  of  the 
Neolithic  age.1  They  buried  their  dead  in  caves ;  or  when 
these  were  lacking,  made  dolmens,  or  box-like  structures 
of  stone  slabs  to  receive  them.  In  the  stone  that  covered 
the  entrance  a  small  hole  was  drilled  to  allow  the  spirit 
access  to  the  tomb  and  egress  from  it.  The  corpse  was 
placed  in  the  contracted  position  of  an  unborn  child,  with 
its  head  resting  upon  its  knees,  thus  perhaps  expressing 
the  belief  that  death  is  birth  into  another  life.     In  the 

1  D'Alviella,  Hibbcrt  Lectures,  pp.    14-19. 


i       SPIRITISM  IN  PRIMITIVE  RELIGION      3 

caves  of  Mentone  the  bones  are  painted  red  with  oligist 
or  cinnabar,  probably  as  a  substitute  for  blood,  the  idea 
being  widespread  that  blood  infuses  new  energy  into  the 
dead.  In  the  Neolithic  caves  of  France  the  skulls  of  the 
dead  are  trepanned.  Whether  this  was  intended  to 
facilitate  the  entrance  and  egress  of  the  spirit,  or  to  make 
an  amulet  for  the  survivors,  it  bears  witness  to  some 
sort  cf  cult  of  the  dead.  In  the  Neolithic  caves  of 
Palestine,  that  were  inhabited  by  a  pre-Semitic  race, 
offerings  of  food  and  drink  were  deposited  with  the  dead 
and  their  bones  were  used  as  amulets.2  Anthropologists 
are  agreed  that  no  savage  race  exists  which  does  not 
believe  in  some  sort  of  immortality  and  practise  some 
rites  in  honour  of  the  dead.3  In  view  of  these  facts,  it  is 
evident  that  immortality  was  one  of  the  original  beliefs 
of  our  race. 

In  the  creation  of  this  belief  the  phenomena  of  sleep 
and  of  dreams  must  have  played  a  large  part.  In  sleep, 
as  in  death,  the  soul  apparently  leaves  the  body;  yet  it 
presently  returns,  and  consequently  must  have  continued 
to  live  during  the  interval  of  unconsciousness.  In  dreams 
one  seems  to  visit  distant  regions.  The  universal  savage 
interpretation  of  this  experience  is  that  the  soul  actually 
leaves  the  body  and  journeys  to  these  places,  for  to  the 
savage  dreams  are  just  as  real  as  waking  experiences.  It 
is  dangerous  to  waken  one  suddenly,  for  the  absent  spirit 
may  not  have  time  to  get  back  to  the  body.  In  swoons 
also,  or  unconsciousness  resulting  from  disease,  the  soul 
apparently  leaves  the  body;  yet  it  returns,  if  the  man 
recovers.  If  the  soul  can  survive  such  temporary  separa- 
tions from  the  body,  why  may  it  not  survive  a  permanent 
separation?  The  savage  believes  that  it  does.  When 
death  occurs,  he  at  first  refuses  to  recognise  anything 
different  from  sleep  or  a  swoon.     He  tries  to  coax  the 

1  Palestine  Exploration  Fund,  Quarterly  Statement,  1902,  pp.  347ff. 
8  Brinton,    Religions    of    Primitive    Peoples,    p.    69;    Hastings,    Encyclopedia    of 
Religion  and  Ethics,  art.   "Ancestor  Worship." 


4  SPIRITISM  I 

soul  back;  and  only  when  dissolution  begins,  does  he  at 
last  admit  that  death  has  occurred.  From  this  point  of 
view  death  differs  from  sleep  or  swoon  only  in  the  fact 
that  the  soul  has  lost  the  power,  or  the  wish,  to  return  to 
its  body.  It  does  not  perish  through  death  any  more  than 
through  transient  states  of  unconsciousness.  Primitive 
man  was  unable  to  think  of  himself  as  ceasing  to  exist; 
and,  strictly  speaking,  it  is  impossible  even  for  us  of  to- 
day. In  many  languages  there  is  no  word  for  "die,"  only 
for  "be  killed."  In  dreams  also  one  saw  the  forms  of 
those  who  had  died,  and  the  inference  was  natural  that 
their  spirits  survived  and  returned  to  visit  friends.  All 
the  phenomena  of  apparitions,  levitation,  hypnotism, 
clairvoyance,  etc.,  that  are  known  to  modern  psychical 
research,  and  that  are  given  a  spiritistic  interpretation  by 
many  today,  were  known  to  primitive  man,  and  doubtless 
helped  also  to  give  support  to  the  belief  in  the  continued 
existence  of  the  disembodied  spirit.4 

c.  Powers  Retained  by  the  Soul  in  Death. — Although, 
according  to  the  antique  conception,  the  dead  lost  their 
physical  powers,  they  lost  none  of  their  higher  spiritual 
powers  of  knowledge,  feeling,  and  will.  Ancestors  re- 
tained a  keen  interest  in  their  posterity  and  actively  inter- 
vened in  their  affairs.  Enemies  preserved  their  original 
hostility  to  their  foes.  The  dead  were  conscious  of  events 
that  occurred  on  earth.  Those  who  had  met  an  untimely 
fate  remembered  that  fact  and  were  unhappy  in  the  other 
world.  The  spirits  of  murdered  men,  of  those  that  had 
died  in  youth,  of  women  that  had  died  in  childbirth,  and 
of  those  that  had  left  no  descendants,  could  not  rest. 

The  belief  was  universal  that,  under  certain  conditions, 
the  dead  had  the  power  of  appearing  to  the  living.5 
When  thus  appearing,  the  spirits  were  believed  to  retain 
the  semblance  of  their  bodies  at  the  time  of  death.     In 

4  Lubbock,  Prehistoric  Times*  pp.  144ff. ;  Tylor,  Primitive  Culture,  ch.  xi-xvii; 
Jevons,  Introduction  to  the  History  of  Religion,  p.  43ff. ;  Frazer,  Golden  Bough,2 
i.  p.  225  ff. 

■  Lang,   The  Making  of  Religion,   p.   138. 


i       SPIRITISM  IN  PRIMITIVE  RELIGION       5 

the  Odyssey  (xi.  40)  those  who  have  fallen  in  battle  ap- 
pear to  Ulysses  "mangled  by  the  spear  and  clad  in  bloody 
armour."  The  same  belief  lingers  in  the  ghost-lore  of 
modern  Europe,  and  even  the  most  enlightened  Christian 
finds  it  impossible  to  think  of  his  beloved  dead  otherwise 
than  as  they  last  appeared  in  life.  Returning  spirits  could 
speak  in  audible  tones,  though  with  weak  and  trembling 
voices  that  corresponded  to  their  ethereal  nature.  Thus 
in  the  Odyssey  (xi.  43)  the  ghosts  approach  Ulysses 
"with  gibbering  cries." 

d.  Powers  Gained  by  the  Soul  in  Death. — Spirits,  al- 
though haunting  their  bodies,  were  not  restricted  to  them. 
They  could  move  at  will  with  lightning-like  rapidity  to 
any  place  where  they  wished  to  manifest  themselves. 
They  also  possessed  the  extraordinary  power  of  entering 
new  bodies. 

1.  They  Could  Occupy  Inanimate  Objects. — Accord- 
ing to  primitive  theology,  spirits  could  use  as  their  in- 
struments material  things,  such  as  sticks  and  stones,  caus- 
ing in  them  motion,  or  endowing  them  with  magical 
powers.  In  this  case  a  talisman  was  produced.  They 
could  also  animate  an  object  by  taking  up  their  abode  in 
it.  In  this  case  the  result  was  a  fetish.  The  idea  was 
widespread  that  they  preferred  to  occupy  images  made  in 
the  likeness  of  their  former  bodies.  Thus  in  Egypt 
statues  of  the  deceased  were  multiplied  in  tombs  that  his 
ka,  or  "double,"  might  find  abundant  opportunity  to  take 
up  its  abode. 

2.  Spirits  Could  Take  Possession  of  Animals. — So 
widespread  was  this  belief  among  primitive  peoples  that 
Wilken,  Tylor,  and  other  anthropologists  have  con- 
jectured that  it  is  the  explanation  of  totemism,  or  the 
worship  of  animals  as  the  ancestors  of  tribes.6 

3.  Spirits  Could  Occupy  the  Bodies  of  Living  Men. — 
This  might  take  the  form  either  of  obsession,  resulting 

6  Crooke,  in  Hastings,  Encyclopaedia  of  Religion  and  Ethics,  art.  "Ancestor 
Worship,"  p.  430. 


6  SPIRITISM  i 

in  disease  or  insanity,  or  of  possession,  resulting  in  the 
imparting  of  the  higher  knowledge,  skill  or  power  of  the 
spirit.  Among  all  ancient  peoples,  it  was  believed  that 
spirits  of  the  dead  not  only  retained  the  knowledge 
possessed  by  them  in  life,  but  also  acquired  new  and 
greater  knowledge.  The  abnormal  powers  of  the  sub- 
conscious soul,  such  as  crystal-gazing,  motor-automatism, 
thought-transference,  telepathy,  telesthesia,  and  fore- 
boding of  the  future,  were  ascribed  to  their  influence.7 
They  were  therefore  believed  to  be  far  wiser  than  mor- 
tals, and  they  were  consulted  for  guidance  in  the  affairs 
of  life  and  for  oracles  concerning  the  future. 

e.  Powers  Lost  by  the  Soul  in  Death. — The  identifi- 
cation of  the  soul  with  the  breath,  shadow,  reflection,  or 
echo  of  the  living  man,  led  naturally  to  the  conception 
that  it  was  vague  and  unsubstantial.  Early  races  and 
savages  have  uniformly  regarded  the  soul  as  a  small, 
feeble  being,  ordinarily  invisible,  inaudible,  and  intangi- 
ble, that  is  unable  to  take  care  of  itself,  and  that  needs 
to  be  sheltered  and  guarded  until,  so  to  speak,  it  "finds 
itself"  in  the  spirit-world.  The  sorcerers  of  Greenland 
describe  the  soul  as  a  pale,  soft  thing,  without  nerves, 
without  bones,  without  flesh;  when  one  would  seize  it, 
one  feels  nothing.8  When  Achilles  would  embrace  the 
shade  of  Patroclus,  it  passes  through  his  hands  like 
smoke. 

"  'Dost  thou  command  me  thus?     I  shall  fulfil 
Obediently  thy  wish;  yet  draw  thou  near, 
And  let  us  give  at  least  a  brief  embrace, 
And  so  indulge  our  grief.'     He  said,  and  stretched 
His  longing  arms  to  clasp  the  shade.     In  vain; 
Away  like  smoke  it  went  with  gibbering  cry, 
Down  to  the  earth.     Achilles  sprang  upright, 
Astonished,  clapped  his  hands,  and  sadly  said, 
'Surely  there  dwell  within  the  realm  below 
Both  soul  and  form,  though  bodiless.'  " 9 

T  See  Lang,   The  Making  of  Religion,  chaps,  iv-v. 
•  D'Alviella,  Hibbert  Lectures,  p.   78. 
'Iliad,  xxiii.  95-104  (Bryant's  translation). 


i       SPIRITISM  IN  PRIMITIVE  RELIGION      7 

In  like  manner  Ulysses  finds  the  shade  of  his  mother 
wholly  unsubstantial. 

"She  spake;  I  longed  to  take  into  my  arms 
The  soul  of  my  dead  mother.     Thrice  I  tried, 
Moved  by  a  strong  desire,  and  thrice  the  form 
Passed  through  them  like  a  shadow  or  a  dream. 

I  spake,  and  then  my  reverend  mother  said : — 
'Believe  not  that  Jove's  daughter  Proserpine 
Deceives  thee.     'Tis  the  lot  of  all  our  race 
When  they  are  dead.     No  more  the  sinews  bind 
The  bones  and  flesh,  when  once  from  the  white  bones 
The  life  departs.     Then  like  a  dream  the  soul 
Flies  off,  and  flits  about  from  place  to  place.'  "  10 

Even  the  souls  of  heroes  are  so  feeble  that  they  cannot 
be  roused  to  activity  until  they  have  drunk  the  fresh,  hot 
blood  of  victims  poured  into  the  sacrificial  trench.11 
According  to  iElius  Spartianus,12  the  Emperor  Hadrian 
shortly  before  his  death  described  his  soul  as  "a  dear 
little  wandering  being,  the  guest  and  companion  of  the 
body."  The  belief  that  spirits  are  pale,  unsubstantial 
phantoms  still  lingers  in  the  modern  idea  of  ghosts. 

/.  Relation  of  the  Disembodied  Soul  to  Its  Body. — 
Another  general  belief  of  primitive  peoples  is  that  the 
soul  continues  to  maintain  a  relation  to  the  dead  body. 
When  the  flesh  has  disappeared,  the  ghost  clings  to  the 
skull  or  the  bones;  and  when  these  have  vanished,  it 
haunts  the  grave  where  its  ashes  are  buried.  Survivals 
of  these  ideas  are  seen  in  the  veneration  of  relics  of  the 
saints  in  Buddhist  and  Roman  Catholic  countries,  and  in 
the  belief  that  ghosts  appear  chiefly  in  graveyards,  or  in 
places  where  murders  have  been  committed.  The  idea 
is  wide-spread  that  an  injury  to  a  dead  body  is  also  an 
injury  to  the  departed  spirit.     Hence  the  universal  cus- 

10  Odyssey,   xi.  204-221    (Bryant's  translation). 

11  Odyssey,  xi.   95. 

13  Hadrianus,  Cap.  25,  in  Scriptores  Historice  Augusta. 


8  SPIRITISM  i 

torn  among  primitive  peoples  and  savages  of  mutilating 
the  corpses  of  enemies.  Thus  every  one  of  the  Greeks 
who  passes  the  body  of  Hector  inflicts  a  blow  upon  it,13 
and  Achilles  drags  it  in  the  dust  at  the  tail  of  his 
chariot.14 

This  connection  of  the  spirit  with  the  corpse  explains 
the  vast  importance  attached  by  primitive  races  to  burial. 
The  Egyptians,  the  Greeks,  the  Romans,  and  all  other 
ancient  peoples  believed  that  the  soul  could  not  rest  unless 
its  body  was  properly  entombed.1"'  Refusal  of  burial  was 
an  injury  that  was  inflicted  only  upon  criminals,  or  upon 
the  most  hated  enemies.  Violation  of  a  tomb  insured 
the  disquieting  of  the  spirit  that  dwelt  within.16 

Closely  connected  with  the  idea  that  the  ghost  haunts 
the  corpse  is  the  idea  that  it  still  needs  food,  drink,  and 
other  necessities  of  life,  and  that  these  must  be  placed 
either  in  the  grave  or  upon  it.  From  the  earliest  times 
such  offerings  were  deposited  with  the  dead,  and  the  cus- 
tom still  lingers  in  civilised  lands  in  modified  forms  such 
as  jewelry,  lights,  flowers  and  wreaths. 

g.  The  General  Estimate  of  Death. — From  the  fore- 
going survey  it  appears  that  primitive  man  believed  that 
the  soul  survived  death,  and  that  it  gained  such  super- 
human powers  that  it  was  to  be  classed  with  the  gods 
rather  than  with  men,  and  was  entitled  to  receive  divine 
homage;  yet  in  spite  of  these  facts,  he  did  not  look  for- 
ward with  any  satisfaction  to  death  as  an  enlargement  of 
his  powers.  On  the  contrary,  it  was  regarded  by  him  as 
an  unmixed  evil.  So  important  was  the  body  that  exist- 
ence without  it  seemed  shadowy  and  worthless.  Thus  in 
the  Odyssey  (xi.  487ft. )  Achilles  says:  "I  would  be  a 
labourer  on  earth,  and  serve  for  hire  some  man  of  mean 
estate  who  makes  scant  cheer,  rather  than  reign  o'er  all 
who  have  gone  down  to  death."     Death  was  not  a  going 

13  Iliad,  xxii.   371. 

u  Ibid.   395ff. 

15  Odyssey,    xi.    72. 

18  De  la  Saussaye,  Manual  of  the  Science  of  Religion,  p.   114. 


i       SPIRITISM  IN  PRIMITIVE  RELIGION       9 

to  the  gods  whom  one  had  loved  and  honoured  in  life,  but 
a  passing  out  of  the  sphere  of  their  care  and  interest. 
Their  rewards  and  punishments  were  distributed  in  this 
world.  In  the  other  world  moral  distinctions  vanished, 
and  all  were  reduced  to  one  common  level  of  misery.  The 
primitive  belief  in  spirits,  accordingly,  was  not  a  belief 
in  immortality  in  any  true  sense.  It  was  a  belief  in  the 
continued  existence  of  the  soul,  but  that  existence  was  so 
vague  and  shadowy  that  it  was  destitute  of  value.  To 
become  a  ghost  could  not  be  an  object  of  desire  for  any 
man.  The  conception  of  God  needed  to  be  deepened  and 
broadened  immensely  before  an  adequate  idea  of  immor- 
tality could  be  formed;  nevertheless,  these  crude  begin- 
nings were  the  foundation  on  which  the  structure  of  a 
better  faith  was  destined  to  rise. 

h.  The  Cult  of  the  Dead. — Because  of  the  powers  that 
have  just  been  described  the  dead  were  regarded  by  all 
ancient  peoples  as  supernatural  beings,  to  whom  the  same 
sort  of  worship  should  be  paid  that  was  rendered  to  the 
gods  and  to  other  classes  of  spirits.17  Veneration  of 
spirits  of  the  dead  is  seen  in  rites  of  mourning,  in  care 
of  the  corpse,  in  bringing  of  sacrifice,  and  in  offering  of 
prayers. 

1.  Removal  of  Garments. — The  custom  was  wide- 
spread in  antiquity,  and  is  still  found  among  savages,  of 
removing  the  garments  entirely,  or  in  part,  as  a  sign  of 
mourning.  As  to  the  meaning  of  this  custom  there  is  a 
difference  of  opinion.  Ewald,  Leyrer  and  Kamphausen 
regard  it  as  a  spontaneous  expression  of  grief;  but  it  is 
hard  to  see  any  psychological  connection  between  grief 
and  nakedness.  Schwally  thinks  that  it  was  the  costume 
of  slaves  and  of  captives,  and  hence  was  a  token  of 
humility  toward  the  spirits.  Frey  takes  it  as  a  sign  of 
submission  to  the  gods  who  have  sent  death  into  the 

17  See  Spencer,  Principles  of  Sociology,  I.  chaps,  xx,  xxv;  Tylor,  Primitive 
Culture,  chap,  xiv;  De  la  Saussaye,  Manual  of  the  Science  of  Religion,,  pp.  112  ft.; 
Jevons,  Introduction  to  the  History  of  Religion,  chap,  xv;  Hastings,  Encyclo- 
pedia of  Religion  and  Ethics,  arts.   "Ancestor-Worship,"   "Animism." 


io  SPIRITISM  i 

family.  Frazer  holds  that  it  is  intended  to  disguise  the 
survivors  from  the  ghost  of  the  dead,  or  to  awaken  its 
pity,  so  that  it  will  do  no  harm.  Far  more  likely  is  the 
view  of  Stade,  Benzinger  and  Jastrow  that  nakedness,  or 
a  simple  loin-cloth,  was  the  primitive  dress  of  man  that 
was  retained  in  mourning  because  it  was  a  religious  exer- 
cise. Religion  is  naturally  conservative,  and  the  sacred 
costume  of  the  present  is  the  everyday  dress  of  the  past. 
In  Egypt  the  priests  of  the  Middle  Empire  wore  the 
dress  of  the  Old  Empire,  and  those  of  the  New  Empire, 
that  of  the  Middle  Empire.  The  vestments  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  clergy  of  today  are  the  common  gar- 
ments of  the  later  Roman  Empire.  Modern  savages  per- 
form their  religious  rites  in  less  clothing  than  they  wear 
on  ordinary  occasions,  the  reason  being  that  this  was  the 
sacred  dress  of  their  forefathers. 

2.  Covering  the  Head. — In  singular  contrast  to  the 
custom  of  stripping  the  body  was  the  other  custom  of 
covering  the  head  or  mouth,  or  laying  the  hand  upon  the 
mouth.  The  theory  that  this  was  due  to  a  desire  to 
conceal  one's  grief  from  bystanders  presupposes  a  mod- 
ern Occidental  point  of  view.  Others  think  that  it  was 
intended  to  disguise  one  from  the  spirits,  or  to  protect 
one's  mouth  and  nose  so  that  they  might  not  enter  into 
one's  body;  but  this  assumes  less  intelligence  in  the  spirits 
than  primitive  man  believed  them  to  possess.  Still  others 
regard  it  as  a  conventional  substitute  for  cutting  the 
hair.18  The  most  natural  interpretation  of  this  cere- 
mony is  that  it  was  designed  originally  to  protect  one 
from  inadvertently  seeing  the  ghost  that  lingered  near 
the  corpse.  Death  might  ensue  if  one  saw  a  ghost  just 
as  if  one  saw  a  god.19 

3.  Cuttings  in  the  Flesh. — As  W.  Robertson  Smith 
has  shown  20  cuttings  in  the  flesh,  whether  practised  in  the 

18  See  below,  4. 
18  Cf.  Ex.  33:20. 
*°  Religion  of  the  Semites,  pp.  322ff. 


I       SPIRITISM  IN  PRIMITIVE  RELIGION     n 

name  of  gods  or  of  spirits,  were  designed  to  make  a  sacri- 
fice of  blood,  and  so  to  establish  a  covenant.  In  the  case 
of  ghosts  such  offerings  were  peculiarly  acceptable  as 
supplying  strength  to  their  feeble  forms.21  Tattooing, 
which  often  accompanied  the  letting  of  blood,  was 
designed  to  mark  one  as  a  permanent  worshipper  of  the 
spirit  to  which  the  blood  was  offered. 

4.  Cutting  the  Hair. — This  rite  cannot  be  regarded 
as  a  natural  expression  of  grief,  nor  can  it  have  been 
designed  to  deceive  the  ghost  so  that  it  would  not  molest 
one,  nor  can  it  have  been,  as  Frazer  and  Jevons  think,  a 
process  of  disinfection  from  taboo,  since  it  occurred 
before  the  funeral.  It  can  only  be  interpreted  as  an  act 
of  worship  to  the  dead.22  Hair-offerings  to  deities  are 
common  throughout  the  world,  and  are  analogous  to 
blood-offerings,  the  strength  being  supposed  to  reside 
in  the  hair.23 

5.  Covering  with  Dust  or  Ashes. — In  this  case  also 
the  theories  of  natural  emotion,  of  humiliation,  and  of 
disguising  one's  self  from  the  spirits,  are  all  inadequate. 
This  can  be  only  a  symbolic  act  designed  to  express  the 
thought  that  one  wishes  to  be  buried  with  the  dead  and  so 
to  maintain  communion  with  them.  Jastrow 2i  thinks 
that  dust  or  earth  put  on  the  head  is  a  survival  of  the 
custom  of  carrying  earth  on  the  head  in  baskets  in  order 
to  cover  the  corpse  with  a  mound,  but  this  will  not  explain 
the  frequent  practice  of  wallowing  in  the  dust  as  an  act 
of  mourning. 

6.  Fasting. — Fasting  as  part  of  the  ritual  of  mourn- 
ing is  another  primitive  human  custom.  Its  origin  is 
difficult  to  trace.  A  natural  reluctance  to  take  food  when 
one  is  sorrowing  does  not  explain  the  fasting  of  people 

21  Cf.  Jevons,  Introduction  to  the  History  of  Religion,  pp.  191ff. 

22  Cf.    Iliad,    xxiii,    ISOff.,    where    Achilles    shears    his    hair    as    an    offering    to 
Patroclus. 

23  Cf.   Ju.    16:17. 

u  "Dust   and  Ashes   as   Symbols   of   Mourning,"   Journ.   Am.    Orient.   Soc,   xx. 
pp.   133ff. 


12  SPIRITISM  i 

who  are  in  no  way  related  to  the  deceased,  nor  does  it 
explain  the  feast  which  often  follows  the  burial.  Frey 
thinks  that  it  is  an  act  of  humility,  like  the  ritual  fasts, 
designed  to  propitiate  the  wrath  of  the  gods  who  have 
sent  death  into  the  family;  but  among  most  peoples  the 
uncleanness  of  death  prohibits  the  worship  of  the  gods  in 
connection  with  funeral  ceremonies.  Others  think  that 
it  is  designed  to  awaken  the  pity  of  the  spirits  so  that  they 
will  not  harm  the  survivors,  but  fear  of  the  spirits  of 
relatives  is  by  no  means  universal.  Frazer,  Jevons  and 
Griineisen  hold  that  death  in  a  house  rendered  every- 
thing taboo,  so  that  food  could  not  be  eaten  until  the 
corpse  was  removed.  W.  R.  Smith  suggests  that  fasting 
was  a  ritual  preparation  for  the  sacrificial  feast  that  fol- 
lowed, like  the  Roman  Catholic  fasting  before  com- 
munion. Spencer,  Lubbock,  Tylor,  and  Buhl  regard  it 
as  a  means  of  inducing  ecstasy,  in  which  one  held  inter- 
course with  the  spirits.-5  In  any  case  it  is  unquestionable 
that  fasting  was  a  ritual  act. 

7.  Disposal  of  the  Corpse. — The  belief  noted  above 
in  the  continued  connection  of  the  disembodied  soul  with 
its  dead  body  led  all  primitive  peoples  to  care  for  the 
corpse  as  an  act  of  homage  to  the  departed  spirit.  Inhu- 
mation, mummification,  and  cremation  were  the  chief 
methods  of  disposal  of  the  dead.  The  first  protected  the 
body  from  being  devoured  by  beasts  or  birds,  the  second 
preserved  it  as  a  permanent  dwelling  for  the  spirit,  the 
third  etherealized  it  so  that  it  might  become  a  more 
fitting  habitation  for  its  former  tenant.  With  the  dead 
were  buried,  or  burned,  his  food,  clothing,  utensils, 
weapons  and  ornaments  that  he  might  use  them  in  the 
other  world.  The  graves  of  ancestors  were  regarded  as 
holy  spots  where  their  descendants  met  at  stated  times 
to  perform  religious  rites  in  their  honour. 

8.  Sacrifice. — By  all  primitive  peoples  sacrifices  were 

26  Cf.    Exod.    34:28;    Dan.    9:3;    10:3. 


i       SPIRITISM  IN  PRIMITIVE  RELIGION     13 

offered  upon  the  grave  in  addition  to  the  gifts  of  food, 
drink,  etc.,  that  were  buried  with  the  corpse.  Thus  in 
the  Odyssey  (xi.  28-46)  Ulysses  pours  out  to  the  shades 
the  blood  of  sheep,  and  makes  libations  of  milk,  honey, 
wine,  and  water,  on  which  white  meal  is  sprinkled.20 

Intimately  connected  with  sacrifices  to  the  dead  were 
funeral  feasts,  in  which  one  partook  of  the  offerings, 
and  thus  sealed  one's  communion  with  the  spirits  of  the 
departed.  Such  feasts  have  lasted  down  to  modern  times 
in  many  countries  where  their  original  connection  with 
sacrifice  has  been  forgotten. 

Sacrifice  to  the  dead  explains  the  importance  attached 
by  all  ancient  peoples  to  male  descendants.  Among  the 
Chinese,  the  Egyptians,  the  Greeks,  the  Romans,  and 
other  patriarchally  organised  races,  the  duty  of  sacri- 
ficing to  a  father  devolved  upon  his  oldest  son.  If  there 
were  no  son,  there  would  be  no  offerings,  and  the  ghost 
could  not  rest. 

9.  Prayer  to  the  Dead. — Here  belong  laments,  which 
were  more  than  mere  cries  of  grief,  being  often  elaborate 
compositions  addressed  to  the  departed,  deploring  his 
loss,  and  begging  him  to  be  near  and  to  bless  his  family. 
At  the  time  of  sacrifice  at  the  grave  regular  prayers  were 
offered  to  the  spirits  as  to  other  deities.  Necromancy 
also,  which  was  universal  in  antiquity,  was  a  form  of 
prayer  in  which  the  spirits  were  invoked  to  come  and  help 
one  with  their  superior  knowledge  or  skill. 

i.  Relation  of  Ancestor-worship  to  Religion  in  General. 
— From  the  foregoing  survey  it  appears  that  the  cult  of 
the  dead  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  most  widely- 
spread  forms  of  human  worship.  Starting  with  this  fact, 
a  number  of  ancient  writers  formulated  the  theory  that 
ancestor-worship  was  the  origin  of  all  human  religion. 
This  theory  appears  as  early  as  Genesis,  chapters  4-5. 
Here  both  in  J's  and  in  P's  lists  of  the  descendants  of 

28  See  Jevons,  Introduction,  pp.  Slff.;  D'Alviella,  Hibbert  Lectures,  p.   17;  De  la 
Saussaye,    Manual,    pp.    114f. 


i4  SPIRITISM  i 

Adam  Semitic  gods  are  regarded  as  forefathers  of  man- 
kind and  as  discoverers  of  the  arts.  The  work  De  Syria 
Dea,  ascribed  to  Lucian,  which  certainly  depends 
throughout  on  Semitic  sources,  shows  the  same  point  of 
view.  The  idea  that  the  gods  are  all  men  who  have  been 
deified  after  death  for  the  services  that  they  have  ren- 
dered to  humanity  was  first  given  currency  by  Euhemerus, 
a  contemporary  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and  hence  is 
known  as  Euhemerism.  It  gained  favour  particularly 
among  the  Romans  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era, 
and  found  a  fanatical  advocate  in  Philo  Byblius.  This 
theory  has  been  revived  by  Herbert  Spencer,27  who  is 
followed  by  Grant  Allen  in  his  Evolution  of  the  Idea  of 
God,  but  it  has  not  won  the  approval  of  the  majority  of 
students  of  comparative  religion  because  in  all  early 
and  savage  religions  numerous  nature-spirits  are  found 
whose  names  and  characteristics  are  entirely  different 
from  those  of  spirits  of  the  dead.28  A  truer  view  of  the 
relation  of  ancestor-worship  to  religion  is  that  the  con- 
ception of  spirit  was  first  gained  through  the  fact  of 
death,  and  was  then  extended  to  other  beings  than  man. 
The  recognition  of  a  distinction  between  soul  and  body 
in  man  furnished  a  basis  for  the  interpretation  of  nature 
as  a  whole.  Every  striking  physical  object,  everything 
that  could  do  something,  or  was  believed  to  be  able  to 
do  something,  was  supposed  to  be  animated  by  a  spirit 
that  could  leave  it  temporarily  or  permanently,  just  as  the 
soul  left  the  body.  Thus,  besides  spirits  of  the  dead, 
primitive  man  came  to  worship  a  multitude  of  other 
spiritual  beings  that  manifested  themselves  in  all  sorts 
of  phenomena.  These  nature-spirits  were  not  conceived 
as  ghosts  of  the  dead,  but  they  were  beings  of  a  similar 
character  to  disembodied  spirits  and  might  be  called  by 

"Principles  of  Sociology,  i.  p.  411. 

28  See  Hartland,  Legend  of  Perseus,  i.  203 ;  A.  Lang,  Myth,  Ritual,  and  Religion, 
1899,  i.  308ff.;  W.  Crooke,  art.  "Ancestorworship"  in  Hastings,  Encyclopedia  of 
Religion  and  Ethics,  i.  p.  427. 


I       SPIRITISM  IN  PRIMITIVE  RELIGION     15 

the  same  general  names.  Thus  arose  what  is  often  called 
Animism,  but  which  is  preferably  called  Polydaemonism, 
or  the  worship  of  a  host  of  demons  (dal/xoves) ,  or 
minor  divinities,  in  contrast  to  Polytheism,  or  the  wor- 
ship of  a  few  great  gods,  and  Monotheism,  or  the  wor- 
ship of  one  God. 


CHAPTER  II 

SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA 

a.  Sources  of  Knowledge  in  Regard  to  Chinese  An- 
cestor-worship.— Our  earliest  sources  of  information  in 
regard  to  the  religion  of  China  are  the  five  Classics  and 
the  four  Canonical  Books.  The  first  of  the  Classics 
is  the  Shu-king,1  or  Book  of  Historical  Documents. 
It  is  a  collection  of  incidents,  addresses,  counsels  and 
decrees  beginning  with  Yao  (traditional  date  2356  B.C. ) , 
and  extending  down  through  the  Hsia  dynasty  (2205- 
1766),  Shang  dynasty  (1766-1122),  Chou  dynasty 
( 1 122-249).  The  Shi-king,  or  Book  of  Poetry,  contains 
poems  that  date  from  the  same  early  period  as  the  Shu- 
king.  It  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  most  precious 
treasures  of  the  world's  literature.  The  Yih-king,  or 
Book  of  Permutations,  is  originally  a  collection  of  sixty- 
four  hexagrams,  which  in  their  turn  are  combinations  of 
eight  trigrams,  and  of  parallel  lines  partly  whole  and  partly 
broken.  It  was  intended  for  purposes  of  divination;  but 
the  manner  of  its  use  has  been  lost,  although  it  has  given 
rise  to  much  ingenious  speculation.  The  Li-ki,  or  Rites 
and  Ceremonies,  is  a  compilation  of  ritual  texts,  partly  of 
high  antiquity,  and  partly  of  later  origin,  that  was  not 
completed  in  its  present  form  before  the  second  century 
of  our  era.  K'ung  Fu  Tzu  (Confucius)  (551-478  B.C.) 
is  traditionally  regarded  as  the  compiler  of  three  of 
these  works,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  substan- 
tial correctness  of  this  belief.  To  Confucius  himself 
is     ascribed     the     writing     of     the     fifth     Classic,     the 

1  In    the    transliteration    of    Chinese    words    an    effort    has    been    made    to    con- 
form to  the  usage  of  H.  A.   Giles'  Chinese-English  Dictionary,  London,    1912. 

16 


ii  SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  17 

Ch'un-ch'iu,  or  Spring  and  Autumn,  a  brief  history  of 
the  state  of  Lu  from  722  to  481  B.C.  The  Tso- 
chuan  is  a  commentary  on  the  Ch'un-ch'iu.  The  Chou-li 
is  a  record  of  the  rites  of  the  Chou  dynasty.  The  I-li  is 
an  ancient  work  on  ceremonial  and  etiquette. 

The  four  Books  are  the  Lun-yii,  or  Sayings  of  Con- 
fucius, a  collection  of  questions,  answers  and  discussions 
between  Confucius  and  his  disciples,  put  together  about 
a  century  after  Confucius,  but  containing  a  genuine  tra- 
dition; the  Ta-hsioh,  or  Great  Learning,  a  treatise  on  the 
cultivation  of  wisdom  in  individuals  as  the  sole  means  of 
laying  a  secure  foundation  for  the  state;  the  Chung-yung, 
or  Doctrine  of  the  Mean,  a  more  philosophic  treatise  on 
aco<f)pocrvv7i,  or  virtue  as  the  balance  between  two  vicious 
extremes ;  and  Meng-tzii,  the  Teaching  of  Mencius,  a 
disciple  of  Confucius. - 

Other  sources  for  the  religion  of  China  are  the  com- 
mentaries on  the  Classics,  the  later  literature,  and  the 
existing  customs  of  the  people.3 

b.  Distinction  between  Soul  and  Body. — The  distinc- 
tion between  soul  and  body  is  fundamental  to  Chinese 
thought.  In  sleep  the  soul  is  believed  to  leave  the  body 
temporarily,  wander  around,  and  see  the  things  that  are 
experienced  in  dreams.  It  comes  back  immediately  when 
the  sleeper  is  awakened.  In  swoons  the  soul  wanders 
farther  from  its  body  and  has  more  difficulty  in  finding 
its  way  back.     The  relatives  then  wave  a  garment  on  a 

-  The  Canonical  Books  and  the  Classics  are  translated  by  J.  Legge,  The  Chinese 
Classics,  1861;  the  Li-ki,  in  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  xxvii-xxviii,  1885.  The 
I-li,  or  Conventional  Rites,  is  translated  by  J.  Steele,  2  vols.,  London,  1917.  The 
references   in   the   following  pages  are   to   Legge's  translations. 

3  The  most  elaborate  work  on  the  subject  is  J.  J.  M.  de  Groot,  The  Religions 
System  of  China,  vi  vols.,  1892-1910  (devoted  almost  exclusively  to  ancestor- 
worship).  Another  elaborate  work  is  H.  Dore,  Recherchcs  sur  les  Superstitions  en 
Chine,  iv.  vols.  1911-1912.  Other  useful  works  of  a  more  popular  character 
are  J.  Legge,  The  Religions  of  China.  1880;  J.  Ross,  The  Original  Religion  of 
China,  1909;  W.  J.  Clennell,  The  Historical  Development  of  Religion  in  China, 
1917;  J.  Edkins,  Religion  in  China,-  1878;  W.  Grube,  Religion  und  Kultus  der 
Chinesen,  1910;  H.  A.  Giles,  Religions  of  Ancient  China,  1918;  J.  J.  M.  de 
Groot,  The  Religion  of  the  Chinese,  1910;  G.  F.  Moore,  History  of  Religions, 
i.    chaps,    i-v.;    E.    W.    Hopkins,    The   History    of   Religions,    chaps,    xiv-xv. 


1 8  SPIRITISM  ii 

bamboo  pole  on  the  housetop  and  beat  a  gong  to  attract 
the  attention  of  the  errant  soul  and  help  it  to  get  its 
bearings.  If  the  swoon  persists,  still  more  strenuous 
efforts  are  made  to  call  the  spirit  back;  and  in  case  of 
death,  the  shouting  is  not  given  up  until  it  is  certain  that 
all  efforts  are  useless.  An  absent  spirit  of  a  living  man 
may  appear  as  a  phantom  to  another  person,  or  even  to 
himself!  and  such  an  apparition  is  regarded  as  an  omen 
of  impending  death.4 

c.  Continued  Existence  of  the  Soul  after  Death. — 
The  soul  which  can  survive  a  temporary  separation  from 
its  body  can  also  survive  the  permanent  separation  of 
death.  This  is  asserted  repeatedly  in  the  Confucian 
literature,  and  is  implied  in  the  activity  of  spirits  of  the 
dead  and  in  the  worship  of  the  dead  of  which  we  shall 
see  more  presently. 

Apparently  the  most  ancient  name  for  "soul"  is  kuei. 
The  ideograph  which  represents  this  is  a  radical  which 
goes  back  to  the  very  invention  of  Chinese  writing.  The 
etymology  and  primitive  meaning  of  the  term  are  uncer- 
tain. Native  lexicographers  connect  it  with  kuei  meaning 
"to  return."  Kuei  would  then  be  the  same  as  the  French 
term  for  "ghost,"  revenant,  that  is,  a  spirit  that  comes 
back  to  its  body.  Like  our  word  "soul,"  kuei  is  limited 
to  spirits  of  human  beings  either  living  or  dead. 

Another  name  for  the  soul  is  shen.  The  sign  for  this 
is  composite,  and  therefore  belongs  to  a  later  stage  of  the 
written  language.  This  is  the  generic  term  for  "spirit" 
of  every  sort  whether  in  nature  or  in  man.  Its  funda- 
mental meaning  is  also  obscure.  Its  phonetic  (repre- 
sented again  by  a  different  sign)  means  "stretch  out." 

Out  of  these  two  words  the  compound  kuei-shen  is 
formed  which  is  the  most  frequent  name  for  spirits  of  the 
dead  in  the  Confucian  literature.  The  reverse  compound 
shen-kuei  is  of  rare  occurrence.     Still  another  word  for 

«De  Groot,  i.  p.  243;  iv.  p.  96;  Dore,  iv.  323-331. 


ii  SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  19 

"spirit"  is  ch'i,  "breath,"  which  corresponds  to  the  termi- 
nology of  other  primitive  races  (see  pp.  69^. ) ,  repre- 
sented also  by  a  composite  sign.  Still  other  terms  are  hun 
and  p'o,  whose  signs  are  derivatives  from  the  radical 
kuei;  also  ming,  "light." 

d.  Powers  Retained  by  the  Soul  in  Death. — No  one  in 
China  seems  ever  to  have  questioned  the  continued  exist- 
ence of  the  soul  after  its  separation  from  its  body,  but 
doubts  were  often  expressed  whether  it  retained  the 
powers  of  knowing,  feeling,  and  doing  that  it  possessed 
during  life.  Confucius  himself  maintained  an  agnostic 
attitude  on  this  subject,  and  discouraged  questions  about 
it  from  his  disciples.  In  the  Sayings  of  Confucius,  VII. 
xx,  it  is  recorded  that  he  avoided  speaking  on  four  sub- 
jects :  prodigies,  feats  of  strength,  rebellions,  and  spirits. 
In  XI.  xi  we  read:  "Chi  Lu  asked  about  serving  the 
spirits  (of  the  dead).  The  Master  said:  'While  you 
are  not  able  to  serve  men,  how  can  you  serve  their 
spirits?'  Chi  Lu  added:  'I  venture  to  ask  about  death.' 
He  was  answered,  'While  you  do  not  know  life,  how  can 
you  know  death?'  '  Another  saying  preserved  by  the 
Chi  a  Yii,  or  Talks  of  Confucius,  II.  Art.  1,  was 
called  forth  by  the  question  of  Tzu-k'ung,  whether  or  not 
the  dead  knew  the  services  that  were  rendered  them. 
Confucius  replied:  "If  I  were  to  say  the  dead  have  such 
knowledge,  I  am  afraid  that  filial  sons  and  dutiful  grand- 
sons would  ruin  themselves  in  paying  the  last  offices  to 
the  departed;  and  if  I  were  to  say  that  the  dead  have 
not  such  knowledge,  I  am  afraid  that  unfilial  sons  would 
leave  their  parents  unburied."  A  similar  utterance  in 
the  Li-ki,  II.  i.  iii.  3,  says:  "If  we  were  to  deal  with 
our  dead  as  if  life  were  really  extinct  in  them,  we  should 
be  inhumane;  but  if  we  were  to  treat  them  as  if  they  were 
quite  alive,  we  should  betray  great  ignorance;  and  there- 
fore neither  may  we  do." 

These  utterances  sound  very  sceptical,  still  Confucius 
himself  said,  according  to  the  Li-ki  (VII.  i.  7)  :  "They 


20  SPIRITISM  ii 

look  up  to  the  sky,  and  bury  the  body  in  the  earth. 
The  corporeal  p'o  goes  downward,  and  the  conscious 
ch'i  is  on  high."  We  are  told  of  Confucius  that  "he  sac- 
rificed to  the  spirits  as  though  the  spirits  were  present," 
and  he  consistently  enjoined  the  cult  of  the  dead  upon  his 
disciples.  Whatever  doubts  the  learned  may  have  cher- 
ished, the  mass  of  the  people  in  all  ages  have  firmly 
believed  that  the  dead  retain  all  the  powers  that  they 
possessed  in  life,  that  they  are  comfortable  or  uncomfort- 
able in  the  tomb,  that  they  know  when  offerings  are 
brought  to  them,  and  miss  them  when  they  are  neglected, 
that  they  are  interested  in  the  affairs  of  their  descendants, 
assisting  the  filial  and  good,  and  punishing  the  unfilial 
and  wicked.  In  a  lament  of  Hsiian  Wang  the  king 
exclaims:  "From  above  there  is  no  hope,  no  help  from 
around  us.  The  host  of  dukes  and  officials  of  the  past 
afford  me  no  assistance.  My  father!  My  mother!  My 
ancestors!  How  can  you  endure  to  see  this!"5  The 
whole  ritual  of  ancestor-worship  implies  that  the  dead 
have  the  same  intellectual  powers  as  the  living.  The 
dead  are  thought  to  live  much  the  same  sort  of  life  that 
they  have  known  on  earth.  They  have  the  same  social 
and  political  organisation,  and  follow  the  same  occupa- 
tions. Emperors  still  rule,  and  are  surrounded  by  their 
officers  and  their  courts,  while  men  of  low  degree  occupy 
the  same  stations  in  the  other  world.6 

e.  Powers  Gained  by  the  Soul  in  Death. — The  belief 
is  universal  in  China  that  spirits  of  the  dead  enter  upon 
a  higher  form  of  existence  and  exert  powers  that  they 
did  not  possess  during  their  earthly  life.  In  the  Doctrine 
of  the  Mean,  chap,  xvi,  Confucius  says:  "How  abun- 
dantly do  spiritual  beings  display  their  powers !  They 
cause  all  men  under  heaven  to  fast  and  purify  themselves, 
and  put  on  their  richest  dresses  to  engage  in  their  sacri- 
fices.   Then  like  overflowing  water  they  seem  to  be  over 

"  Shi-king,  III.  iii.  Ode  4. 
•  See   de   Groot,   v.   chap.  xv. 


II 


SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  21 


their  heads,  and  on  the  right  and  left  (of  their  worship- 
pers)."    In  the  Shi-king,  III.  iii.  Ode  2,  we  are  told: 

"The  spirits  come,  but  when  and  where 
No  one  beforehand  can  declare. 
Therefore  we  should  not  spirits  slight, 
But  ever  live  as  in  their  sight." 

Of  the  good  King  Wen  the  Shi-king,  III.  i.  Ode  6,  says : 

"Unseen  by  men,  he  still  felt  seen 
By  spirits  always  near. 
Unweariedly  did  he  maintain 
His  virtue  pure  and  free  from  stain."  7 

Another  passage  says :  "The  approach  of  the  shen  cannot 
be  calculated,  they  should  therefore  never  be  regarded 
contemptuously  or  treated  with  neglect."  In  another  ode 
we  are  told:  "Our  ancestors  descend  in  their  majesty. 
Their  shen  enjoy  the  offerings,  and  their  filial  descendant 
obtains  their  blessing.  Him  will  they  reward  with  great 
bounties  and  endless  life."  "The  shen  come  noiselessly, 
and  repay  their  host  with  great  happiness  and  with  life 
for  a  myriad  years."  "The  shen  go  away  noiselessly."  8 
These  passages  assert  omnipresence  and  omniscience  of 
the  shen,  or  at  least  multipresence  and  multiscience. 
Some  of  the  more  important  ways  in  which  spirits  mani- 
fest their  superhuman  powers  are  as  follows: 

1.  Spirits  Can  Occupy  and  Control  Inanimate  Ob- 
jects.— Immediately  after  death  a  tablet  or  banner  is 
prepared  inscribed  with  the  name  of  the  deceased.  This 
is  believed  to  be  occupied  by  his  spirit,  and  is  carried  with 
the  corpse  to  the  grave,  where  it  is  buried  in  order  to  se- 
cure the  residence  of  the  spirit  in  its  tomb.  The  tomb- 
stone bearing  the  name  of  the  departed  is  also  regarded 
as  in  a  peculiar  sense  the  abode  of  the  spirit,  and  there- 
fore is  the  centre  of  the  posthumous  rites  celebrated  at 

T  Translation  of  J.  Legge,  Religions  of  China,  pp.   94-95. 
8  Shi-king,  II.  vi.  Ode  5,  vss.  3,  5. 


22  SPIRITISM  ii 

the  grave.  The  ancestral  tablet  is  another  dwelling-place 
of  the  spirit.  This  is  mentioned  as  early  as  the  Chou 
dynasty,  and  probably  existed  long  before  that  time. 
The  sign  for  ancestral  tablet  (shen-chu)  is  a  combina- 
tion of  the  radical  for  "stone"  and  the  phonetic  for 
"lord"  or  "pillar."  This  suggests  that  it  was  originally  a 
miniature  tombstone  designed  for  ceremonies  in  the  home 
or  in  the  ancestral  hall  instead  of  at  the  grave.  The 
modern  form  consists  of  a  wooden  base  with  a  socket  in 
which  is  inserted  an  upright  piece  with  a  groove  near  the 
top  into  which  another  upright  piece  is  fitted.  It  bears 
a  close  resemblance  to  the  ordinary  Chinese  tombstone. 
It  has  written  upon  it  the  words,  "Seat  of  the  Spirit," 
"Seat  of  the  Soul,"  "Lodging-place  of  the  Spirit,"  or 
"Spirit  Throne,"  also  the  name  and  titles  of  the  owner 
and  the  date  of  his  birth.  The  inscription  is  left  incom- 
plete until  after  the  interment,  and  then  some  high  liter- 
ary official  adds  a  dot  that  is  necessary  to  complete  one 
of  the  characters,  and  the  tablet  is  placed  in  the  shrine 
along  with  those  of  other  ancestors.  Before  these  tab- 
lets offerings  are  presented  and  announcement  is  made 
of  all  important  events  in  the  life  of  the  family.9 

Through  the  control  of  inanimate  objects  spirits  of  the 
dead  can  reveal  their  will  to  men.  The  most  ancient 
form  of  omen-giving  of  this  sort  was  through  the  tor- 
toise shell.  The  inner  side  of  the  upper  shell  of  a  tor- 
toise was  coated  with  ink,  and  it  was  held  over  a  fire  until 
cracks  in  the  form  of  lines  appeared  in  the  pigment. 
These  were  controlled  by  the  spirits  in  order  to  disclose 
their  wishes.  The  sign  for  this  sort  of  divination,  pu, 
is  one  of  the  primitive  Chinese  radicals.  In  combination 
with  k'ou,  "mouth,"  this  forms  the  sign  for  the  interpre- 
tation of  the  shell-oracles.  This  sort  of  divination  is 
first  mentioned  in  the  reign  of  Shun  (2224  B.C.).  When 
he  wished  to  select  a  successor  to  the  throne,  he  con- 

•Dore,  i.  97-106. 


ii  SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  23 

suited  with  his  ministers  and  with  the  people,  and  they 
unanimously  nominated  Yii.  He  then  submitted  the 
matter  to  the  spirits  through  the  tortoise-oracle  and  they 
confirmed  the  choice.10  P'an-keng  (1400  B.C.)  used  the 
same  method  in  determining  the  site  of  a  new  capital.11 
The  Duke  of  Chou  (1100  B.C.)  used  the  tortoise  shell 
to  find  out  whether  his  brother  Wu  would  live,  and 
received  a  favourable  answer.12  He  also  used  it  to  deter- 
mine the  site  of  a  new  capital.13 

Another  method  of  communication  used  by  the  spirits 
was  through  stalks  of  the  shih,  or  yarrow  plant.  Through 
the  falling  of  pieces  of  different  length  and  the  diagrams 
that  they  formed  omens  were  given.  The  interpretation 
of  these  omens  seems  to  have  been  the  main  purpose  of 
the  Yih-king,  or  Book  of  Permutations.1*  This  form  of 
divination  was  used  by  Shun  in  connection  with  the  tor- 
toise shell  mentioned  above.  Both  of  these  oracular 
media  have  long  since  gone  out  of  use. 

A  favourite  method  of  divination  at  the  present  time 
is  by  the  drawing  of  lots  marked  with  answers  out  of  an 
urn.  These  lots  are  believed  to  be  controlled  by  the 
spirits.  Another  form  of  lot  is  the  chiao  which  consists 
of  two  pieces  of  stone  or  of  wood  shaped  like  the  two 
halves  of  a  bean.  These  are  thrown  into  the  air  in  the 
presence  of  the  ancestral  tablets.  Two  convex  sides  up 
mean  no  answer.  Two  flat  sides  up  mean  a  negative 
answer.  One  flat  and  one  convex  side  up  mean  an  affirma- 
tive answer.  This  method  of  divination  was  in  existence 
at  least  as  early  as  300  B.C. 

Spirit-writing  has  been  known  in  China  at  least  since 
the  beginning  of  our  era.  The  instrument  which  corre- 
sponds to  the  planchette  is  called  chi.  It  consists  of  a 
bough  with  two  long  branches  and  one   short  branch. 

10  Shu-king,    II.    ii.   ch.    ii.    18. 
nIbid.,  VI.  vii.   Pt.  iii,  7. 
12  Ibid.,  V.   vi.   9. 
"Ibid.,  V.,  xii.  2. 
"  See  p.  16. 


24  SPIRITISM  ii 

The  long  branches  are  held  as  handles  by  two  persons; 
and  the  short  branch  writes  on  paper,  or  on  sand  spread 
upon  a  table.  It  is  thus  an  analogue  to  the  divining  rod 
of  western  lands.  It  is  commonly  made  of  peach  or  of 
willow  wood,  because  these  are  distasteful  to  evil  spirits, 
in  order  to  prevent  its  control  by  the  wrong  sort  of 
ghost.  Like  the  planchette  it  is  a  means  of  automatic 
writing  on  the  part  of  the  persons  who  hold  it.  The 
spirit  is  invoked  to  enter  it.  He  is  said  to  "descend  into 
the  chi,"  "to  go  up  into  it,"  "to  adhere  to  it,"  "to  have 
contact  with  it."  When  he  comes,  the  chi  falls  upon  the 
table  with  a  bang,  and  is  apparently  uncontrollable  by 
the  persons  who  hold  it.  It  begins  to  write  furiously,  and 
in  reply  to  questions  will  state  the  name  of  the  spirit 
that  is  using  it,  his  birthplace,  the  time  when  he  lived,  and 
other  particulars.  Occasionally  the  wrong  sort  of  a 
spirit  gets  on  the  line  and  "plays  fast  and  loose  with  the 
chi."  This  causes  great  confusion  as  long  as  it  lasts, 
which  usually  is  not  for  a  great  length  of  time.  Spirits 
may  even  write  letters  without  the  use  of  the  chi,  and 
drop  them  down  from  the  sky  for  the  guidance  of  men.15 
2.  Spirits  Can  Take  Possession  of  Animals  and  Con- 
trol the  Action  of  These  Creatures— --Thus  men  who  have 
been  devoured  by  wild  beasts  cannot  escape  from  the 
bodies  of  these  animals  until  another  victim  has  been 
eaten.  A  man-eating  tiger  is  always  possessed  by  a  kuei 
which  urges  it  to  attack  some  person.  "Real  tigers," 
says  one  authority,  "devour  no  men;  it  is  men  transformed 
into  tigers  who  do  so,  for  they  are  ashamed  of  their  own 
race  and  hate  it."  Kuan,  the  minister  of  the  ancient  King 
Yao,  in  damming  up  the  inundating  waters  "disarranged 
the  five  elements."  For  this  he  was  imprisoned  for  life, 
and  after  his  death  his  soul  passed  into  an  yellow  bear.  In 
534  B.C.  this  same  bear  appeared  in  a  dream  to  the 
ruler  of  Tsin.    In  693  B.C.  a  certain  P'eng-sheng  was  put 

18  See  de  Groot,  vi.  p.   129S;   Dore,  ii.   354;   cf.  2  Chr.  21:12,  where  a  writing 
comes  to  Jehorara   from   the   dead   Elijah. 


u 


SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  25 


to  death  for  the  murder  of  Hsiian,  the  ruler  of  Lu.  He 
appeared  in  the  form  of  a  wild  boar  to  Hsiang,  the  ruler 
of  Ts'i,  and  soon  after  the  latter  was  assassinated.  The 
spirits  of  drowned  men  were  likely  to  enter  into  the 
bodies  of  aquatic  animals.  Yuen,  king  of  Sung  (530- 
516  B.C.),  dreamed  that  a  man  with  dishevelled  hair 
appeared  to  him,  saying,  "A  fisherman  named  Yii  Tsii  has 
caught  me."  A  diviner  interpreted  this  to  mean,  "This 
is  a  tortoise  possessed  by  a  shen."  Next  day  the  king 
interrogated  the  fisherman,  and  he  reported  that  he  had 
caught  a  white  tortoise,  as  oval-shaped  as  a  basket,  and 
five  feet  broad. 

Animals  which  inhabit  graves  are  naturally  regarded 
as  possessed  by  spirits  of  the  dead.  Such  are  wolves, 
hyenas,  jackals,  foxes,  rats,  bats,  owls  and  serpents.  All 
of  these  are  demonic  animals  that  have  the  powers  of 
speech  and  of  helping  or  hurting  men.  Birds  also  are 
frequently  possessed  by  spirits  of  the  dead.  A  certain 
Wei  was  about  to  kill  a  cock  that  belonged  to  him,  when 
to  his  amazement  the  bird  cried  out,  "I  am  Wang,  your 
old  chum  in  the  army."  The  prefect,  hearing  of  this, 
summoned  Wei  and  the  bird  before  him.  The  cock 
repeated  its  statements  before  the  magistrate,  and  con- 
cluded with  the  words :  "Now,  since  I,  a  domestic  fowl, 
have  divulged  matters  of  the  World  of  Darkness  without 
authorization,  I  must  die."  It  stretched  out  its  neck  and 
expired.  The  prefect  ordered  it  to  be  buried  in  a  tomb 
that  bore  the  inscription  "Tomb  of  the  Man-cock." 
Friends  and  lovers  are  specially  likely  to  turn  into  birds 
after  death.  Wen-hsiu  and  Lo  Tzu-chung  were  great 
friends.  They  died  the  same  night,  and  were  buried 
seven  miles  apart.  "Wen-hsiu's  soul  changed  into  a  cock, 
and  that  of  Tzu-chung  into  a  pheasant;  and  the  melan- 
choly tones  of  their  shrill  voices  resound  there  to  and  fro 
continually."  The  heir-apparent  of  Ts'i  died,  and  his 
bride  grieved  so  that  she  soon  followed  him  to  the  grave. 
Her  bridal  matron  drummed  on  the  tomb  with  the  lute 


26  SPIRITISM  ii 

that  the  girl  had  been  accustomed  to  play,  and  two 
pheasants  came  forth  out  of  it.  Mandarin  ducks  are 
famous  in  China  for  their  conjugal  affection.  It  is  said 
that  a  duck  will  even  follow  a  drake  into  the  cooking 
pot.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  loving  couples 
after  death  enter  into  the  bodies  of  these  birds.16 

3.  Spirits  Can  Enter  into  Dead  Bodies. — They  may 
re-animate  their  own  bodies  long  after  death.  De  Groot 
reports  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  cases  in  literature 
before  the  tenth  century  of  our  era.  At  other  times  the 
spirits  may  re-animate  the  corpses  of  other  persons. 
This  happens  when  their  own  bodies  have  decayed,  or 
have  been  destroyed  so  as  to  be  no  longer  usable.  After 
spending  a  dozen  years  in  the  other  world,  a  certain 
Chuh  Chi-ching  returned  to  earth  in  the  body  of  his 
recently  deceased  neighbour,  Chao  Tzu-huo,  and  lived 
happily  with  his  own  family  for  a  number  of  years.  An 
unknown  kuei  animated  the  body  of  a  dead  girl,  and  she 
lived  for  a  long  time  as  the  wife  of  a  man.  Such  tales 
are  almost  as  numerous  as  those  of  resurrection.17 

4.  Spirits  Can  Be  Reborn  in  New  Bodies. — Still  an- 
other method  of  returning  to  life  is  to  enter  into  the  womb 
of  a  mother  and  become  the  soul  of  an  unborn  babe. 
When  such  persons  are  born  and  begin  to  grow  up,  they 
remember  their  former  existence.  A  certain  learned  man 
named  Pao  Ching  who  lived  under  the  Tsin  dynasty  re- 
membered that  in  his  previous  existence  he  had  been 
drowned  in  a  well  at  the  age  of  nine.  Search  in  the  well 
confirmed  the  correctness  of  his  statements.  Yang  Hu, 
when  he  was  five  years  old,  asked  for  a  ring  with  which  he 
used  to  play.  When  he  was  told  that  he  never  had  one,  he 
went  to  a  mulberry  tree  in  a  neighbour's  yard,  and  pulled 
out  a  ring  that  had  been  lost  by  a  dead  child  of  that  fam- 
ily. Rebirths  were  also  recognised  by  scars,  or  other 
marks  on  the  body  of  a  child,  that  corresponded  to  similar 

19  See  de  Groot,  iv.  pp.   1S6-2S2;  v.   542-651;  Dore,  ii.   380  sq. 
«  See  de  Groot,  iv.  123. 


ii  SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  27 

marks  on  the  body  of  the  deceased.  In  taking  a  second 
body  a  spirit  might  change  its  sex.  A  girl  named  Ts'ai- 
niang  was  reborn  as  a  son  of  her  own  mother.  As  soon 
as  the  boy  began  to  talk  he  demanded  the  concealed  play- 
things that  had  belonged  to  his  sister.18 

5.  Spirits  Can  Obsess  the  Bodies  of  Living  Men. — 
The  belief  has  been  universal  in  China  since  the  earliest 
times  that  diseases  are  caused  by  spirits  which  enter  into 
the  bodies  of  living  men.  These  malignant  spirits  are  of 
different  classes  and  bear  many  names,  but  among  them 
spirits  of  the  dead  play  an  important  part.  Ghosts  of 
the  unburied,  or  of  those  improperly  buried  (see  below 
under  /),  are  wont  to  vent  their  spite  by  obsessing  the 
living.  Weapons  buried  with  the  dead  may  become  dan- 
gerous to  the  living.  The  wife  and  the  daughters  of  the 
prefect  of  Hsin-tu  suffered  from  violent  headaches  and 
palpitations  of  the  heart.  Inquiry  of  the  famous  sooth- 
sayer Kuan  Lu  elicited  the  response :  "On  the  west  side 
of  the  hall  two  dead  men  lie,  one  with  a  spear,  and  the 
other  with  a  bow  and  an  arrow;  their  heads  lie  inside  the 
wall  and  their  feet  outside;  the  one  with  the  spear  pierces 
the  heads  of  your  family,  and  this  is  why  their  heads  ache 
so  that  they  cannot  raise  them;  the  other  aims  at  their 
breasts,  whereby  their  hearts  feel  so  anxious  and  pained 
that  they  cannot  eat  or  drink;  in  the  daytime  these  beings 
soar  about,  but  at  night  they  come  and  make  people  ill, 
striking  them  with  fright  and  anxiety."  On  hearing  this, 
the  prefect  had  the  skeletons  exhumed  and  buried  else- 
where, and  the  women  promptly  recovered.  Chinese 
beliefs  on  this  subject  are  identical  with  those  of  the 
ancient  Sumerians  in  Babylonia  which  are  discussed  on 
page  212. 19 

6.  Spirits  Can  Possess  the  Souls  of  Living  Men. — 
Not  merely  the  bodies  of  men,  but  also  their  souls  can  be 
occupied  by  spirits  of  the  dead,  who  then  control  their 

18  See    de    Groot,    iv.    143. 
"Ibid.,  v.  675. 


28  SPIRITISM  n 

thoughts  and  actions.  Insanity  is  caused  by  spirits,  and 
is  therefore  akin  to  inspiration.  Ghosts  of  the  murdered, 
or  of  those  who  have  been  injured  in  their  lifetimes,  enter 
into  their  oppressors,  compelling  them  to  divulge  their 
crimes,  or  driving  them  to  madness.  Candidates  for 
literary  honours  are  often  given  by  kindly  spirits  super- 
human intelligence  in  their  examinations,  while  others 
are  so  bewildered  by  malicious  ghosts  that  they  make 
utter  failures.  Sometimes  instead  of  his  examination 
paper  a  candidate  is  constrained  to  write  out  a  confession 
of  a  crime  that  he  has  committed.  Dreams  are  believed 
to  be  caused  by  spirits,  and  spirits  frequently  appear  to 
people  in  dreams.  Somnambulism,  trance,  and  hypnosis 
are  also  caused  by  their  activity. 

A  curious  form  of  the  belief  in  spirit-possession 
appeared  in  the  Chou  dynasty  (iioo  B.C.)  in  the  "per- 
sonators"  of  the  dead  at  the  funeral  feasts.  Descendants 
of  the  ancestors  were  chosen,  and  were  arrayed  in  cere- 
monial garments.  The  ancestors  were  invoked  to  be 
present  in  them,  they  sat  solemnly  in  state,  ate  of  the 
food,  drank  of  the  liquors,  received  the  prayers  of  the 
family  through  a  "prayer-officer,"  revealed  the  will  of 
the  ancestors,  and  pronounced  their  blessing  upon  the 
"filial  descendant"  because  of  his  generous  sacrifice.  One 
of  the  odes  of  this  period  says:  "We  invite  the  'imper- 
sonator' of  the  dead  to  be  seated  that  we  may  secure  great 
happiness.  .  .  .  The  full  ceremonial  is  carefully  ob- 
served, and  every  word  and  smile  is  as  it  ought  to  be.  .  .  . 
When  the  service  is  finished,  all  the  actors  are  exhausted, 
having  carried  out  the  ceremonial  without  mistake.  The 
'prayer-officer'  announces  to  the  'filial  descendant'  that 
his  filial  sacrifice  has  been  fragrant.  .  .  .  The  ceremo- 
nial being  thus  finished,  the  bells  and  drums  strike  up,  and 
the  'filial  descendant'  returns  to  his  own  seat.  The 
'prayer-officer'  declares  that  the  shen  have  drunk  to 
satiety.    The  august  'personator'  of  the  dead  then  arises, 


ii  SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  29 

and  is  escorted  away  to  the  sound  of  bells  and  drums. 
The  shen  go  away  noiselessly."  20 

This  strange  institution  of  the  "personator"  has  not 
existed  since  the  Chou  dynasty,  but  "mediums"  of  other 
sorts  have  lasted  down  to  the  present  time.  People  in  an 
hypnotic  or  ecstatic  condition  are  regarded  as  possessed 
by  spirits.  Such  persons  are  called  wu.  They  are  akin 
to  the  shamans  and  medicine-men  of  other  races.  Wang 
Ch'ung,  the  sceptical  philosopher  who  lived  at  the  close 
of  the  first  century  of  our  era,  says:  "Among  men  the 
dead  speak  through  living  persons  whom  they  throw  into 
a  trance ;  and  the  wu,  thrumming  their  black  chords,  call 
down  souls  of  the  dead,  which  then  speak  through  the 
mouths  of  the  wu."  Individuals  thus  possessed  indicated 
the  fact  by  convulsive  motions  of  the  face  and  limbs, 
shivering,  groaning  and  sobbing,  or  by  uncontrollable 
running  or  jumping.  Sometimes  they  manifested  such 
power  that  the  strongest  men  could  not  hold  them.  In 
order  to  induce  the  prophetic  ecstasy  they  made  use  of 
dancing  and  singing,  like  the  Sons  of  the  Prophets  in 
1  Samuel  10:5,  and  the  priests  of  the  ba'al  in  1  Kings 
18  126.  This  practice  is  mentioned  as  early  as  the  Shang 
dynasty  in  the  eighteenth  century  B.C.  So  infectious  was 
this  enthusiasm  that  bystanders  were  caught  by  it  and 
prophesied  with  the  wu.  Young  boys  were  often  associ- 
ated with  them  that  they  might  participate  in  their  inspira- 
tion. We  are  reminded  of  the  way  in  which  the  youthful 
Saul  prophesied  with  the  Sons  of  the  Prophets  ( 1  Samuel 
10:10-12;  19:20-24).  The  wu  might  belong  to  either 
sex;  but,  as  among  other  races,  they  were  chiefly  women. 
A  male  wu  was  known  also  as  chi. 

When  controlled  by  the  spirits,  the  wu  uttered  oracles 
in  their  name.  The  Emperor  Wu  of  the  Han  dynasty 
frequently  consulted  a  female  wu  who  was  inspired  by  the 

20  Shi-king,  II.  vi.  S;  Cf.  the  Roman  custom,  pp.  75,  80. 


3o  SPIRITISM  ii 

deceased  princess  Shen.  Of  her  the  chronicler  records: 
"Whatever  she  said  he  ordered  to  be  written  down.  Her 
orders  were  called  written  law,  but  merely  told  things 
which  even  ordinary  people  knew,  and  they  contained 
nothing  extraordinary;  nevertheless,  the  Son  of  Heaven 
extended  an  exclusive  preference  to  them.  They  were 
kept  secret,  and  the  world  at  that  time  knew  nothing  of 
them."  Under  Emperor  Chao,  son  of  Wu  of  the  Han 
dynasty,  his  brother  Hsu  aspired  to  the  throne,  and  con- 
sulted a  female  wu  named  Li  Nii-hsii.  "He  ordered  her 
to  bring  down  a  shen  and  make  incantations.  Nii-hsii 
burst  into  tears  as  she  said,  'The  Emperor  Hsiao  Wu 
descends  into  me' ;  and  while  all  the  bystanders  prostrated 
themselves,  she  exclaimed,  'It  is  my  strict  order  that  Hsu 
shall  become  the  Son  of  Heaven.'  "  This  ability  of  the 
wu  to  bring  messages  from  revered  ancestors,  or  from 
beloved  relatives  or  friends,  gave  them  great  influence 
over  the  credulous. 

The  wu  possessed  also  clairvoyant  powers  which 
enabled  them  to  discover  lost  articles,  or  to  tell  where 
things  were  hidden.  In  the  reign  of  King  Kuei-ming 
(264  A.D.)  two  wu  identified  the  grave  of  a  princess  by 
describing  the  clothes  in  which  she  was  buried.  The  grave 
was  opened,  and  the  garments  were  found  as  described. 
Ch'en  Kuah  of  the  eleventh  century  says  of  a  female  wu: 
"She  proved  able  to  reveal  anything  that  my  uncle  wished 
to  know  from  her  about  things  in  this  human  world,  even 
though  they  were  more  than  a  thousand  miles  off." 

The  wu  were  able  also  to  read  the  minds  of  other  peo- 
ple. Of  the  same  female  wu  just  mentioned  Ch'en  Kuah 
says:  "She  even  knew  the  thoughts  arising  in  others. 
Guests  who  were  just  then  playing  draughts  held  in  their 
hands  some  black  or  white  draughtsmen  which  they  had 
previously  counted,  and  asked  her  how  many  there  were, 
and  she  gave  the  answer  correctly  every  time;  but  then 
they  took  handfuls  without  counting  them,  and  she  could 
not  mention  their  numbers.     It  was  thus  evident  that  she 


ii  SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  31 

could  know  what  others  knew,  but  not  what  others  did 
not  bear  in  their  minds."  Because  of  these  powers 
emperors  and  princes  were  accustomed  to  make  use  of 
the  wu  in  order  to  discover  sorcerers,  or  rebels  who  were 
conspiring  against  their  authority.  The  wu  were  able  to 
tell  people  what  they  had  dreamed,  even  when  they  them- 
selves had  forgotten  it.  In  580  B.C.  the  ruler  of  Chin 
dreamed  that  he  saw  a  tall  demon  with  dishevelled  hair 
reaching  to  the  ground,  which  beat  its  breast  and  stamped 
on  the  ground,  saying,  "You  have  killed  my  grandsons 
unjustly,  but  I  have  had  my  request  granted  by  the  Celes- 
tial Emperor."  A  female  wu  repeated  this  dream  to  the 
king  and  told  him  that  it  meant  his  impending  death.21 

When  possessed  by  the  spirits,  the  wu  could  predict 
the  future.  Of  one  of  these  mediums  Chuang-tzu  says: 
"In  Ching  there  was  a  wu  animated  by  a  shen,  whose 
name  was  Chi-hsien.  He  knew  everything  about  the 
birth  and  death  of  men,  the  continuation  and  cessation 
of  their  lives,  their  misfortunes  and  happiness,  and 
whether  they  would  die  at  a  great  age  or  prematurely." 
In  the  year  888  a  wu  said  to  Lo  Hung-hsin:  "An  old 
grey-haired  man  sends  me  to  you  with  the  expression  of 
his  gratitude;  you  are  destined  to  become  the  owner  of 
this  earth."  Hung-hsin  subsequently  became  emperor. 
About  1000  A.D.  a  wu  predicted  to  Chau  Tsu,  the  ances- 
tor of  the  House  of  Kin,  the  birth  of  four  children,  and 
described  accurately  their  characteristics. 

Under  the  influence  of  the  spirits  the  wu  possessed  not 
only  supernatural  knowledge  but  also  the  power  of  work- 
ing miracles.  The  life  of  Hsia  T'ung  during  the  Tsin 
dynasty  gives  the  following  account  of  two  beautiful 
female  wu  in  his  day:  "They  chanted  and  danced  excel- 
lently, and  they  could  render  themselves  invisible.  The 
first  evening  was  opened  by  them  with  bells  and  drums, 
the  noise  of  which  they  alternated  with  music  of  stringed 

"Compare  the  cases  of  Joseph,  Gen.  40-41;  and  of  Daniel,  Dan.  2. 


32 


SPIRITISM  ii 


instruments  and  bamboo  pipes.  Then  Tan  and  Chu  drew 
knives  or  swords,  cut  their  tongues  therewith,  swallowed 
the  swords,  and  spat  fire,  a  cloud  hiding  them  from 
view,  from  which  streams  of  light  flashed  like  lightning. 
.  .  .  Dancing  with  light  steps,  and  whirling  round  and 
round,  they  uttered  a  language  of  spirits  and  laughed  like 
spectres,  causing  basins  to  spin  and  fly  against  each  other, 
and  with  gestures  as  though  flying  invited  one  another  to 
drink.  Hsia  T'ung  stood  horror-stricken;  off  he  ran,  not 
through  the  gate,  but  right  through  the  fence,  and  went 
home."  When  the  witch  Nu-hsu,  who  has  been  men- 
tioned before,  made  her  incantations,  "the  red  leaves  on 
some  ten  branches  of  a  jujube  tree  in  the  palace-park 
turned  as  white  as  silk,  and  in  the  pond  the  water  became 
red  and  the  fish  died,  and  rats  hopped  about  in  full  day- 
light in  erect  attitude  in  the  queen's  courtyard." 

Other  mediums  under  the  influence  of  the  spirits  pro- 
duced wonderful  literary  compositions.  About  1035  A.D. 
a  spirit  descended  into  a  girl  in  the  family  of  Wang  Lun, 
Doctor  in  the  Court  of  Sacrificial  Worship.  "That  girl 
thereupon  was  able  to  write  literary  compositions  of 
exquisite  beauty,  which  even  now  are  circulating  in  the 
world  under  the  title  of  Collected  Works  of  the  Female 
Immortal.  She  wrote  in  several  styles,  and  manifested 
the  greatest  artistic  skill  in  the  use  of  the  pencil;  but 
never  did  she  write  the  seal  characters  or  square  charac- 
ters that  are  used  in  this  world."  22 

7.  Spirits  Can  Appear  to  Men. — Such  apparitions 
are  not  limited  to  professional  seers,  but  may  happen  to 
anyone.  Ghosts  that  thus  reveal  themselves  retain  the 
form  of  their  bodies  at  the  time  of  death.  Ghosts  of  chil- 
dren return  as  children;  ghosts  of  the  aged,  as  aged. 
Ghosts  of  those  who  have  been  beheaded  show  themselves 
headless;  and  after  an  execution  fire-crackers  are  set  off  to 
drive  the  ghost  away  from  the  place,  and  the  mandarin 

"See  de  Groot,  vi.   pp.   1187-1341;   Dore,   i.   139-142. 


ii  SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  33 

who  superintends  the  execution  passes  through  a  smoke  at 
the  door  of  his  house  to  prevent  the  headless  spectre  from 
entering  with  him.  As  in  other  lands,  ghosts  are  most 
likely  to  appear  at  the  time  of  their  death,  or  soon  after. 
Many  families  have  had  experience  of  the  return  of 
deceased  relatives  to  their  homes.  In  the  Classics  men- 
tion is  made  of  the  custom  of  fasting  and  meditating  for 
three  days  before  celebrating  the  worship  of  an  ancestor. 
The  "filial  descendant"  was  required  to  recall  the  looks 
of  the  person  whom  he  wished  to  honour,  how  he  had 
stood  and  sat,  how  he  had  smiled  and  spoken,  what  had 
been  his  favourite  thoughts  and  occupations.  On  the 
third  day,  through  self-hypnotisation,  the  ancestor 
appeared  to  the  worshipper  and  spoke  to  him.  Whether 
a  ghost  could  appear  in  person  or  had  to  depend  upon  a 
medium  depended  upon  the  degree  of  energy  that  it  pos- 
sessed. In  the  year  825  a  female  wu  said  to  Li  Hsiang, 
prefect  of  Meng  Chou :  "I  am  a  spectre-seer  who  can 
summon  spirits  by  calling  them  hither.  There  are  two 
kinds  of  spirits,  those  which  enjoy  happiness  and  blessing, 
and  others  which  are  poor  and  mean;  the  former  have  a 
vital  spirit  which  is  so  vigorous  and  healthy  that  it  enables 
them  to  speak  with  men  from  time  to  time,  while  the 
latter  have  a  breath  which  is  so  weak  and  a  shen  which 
is  so  exhausted  that  they  are  obliged  to  employ  me  as 
their  mouthpiece." 

Ghosts  appeared  more  frequently  to  professional  wu 
than  to  ordinary  men;  in  fact,  they  could  often  be  seen 
by  the  wu  when  they  were  invisible  to  others.  An  inter- 
esting account  has  come  down  of  a  seance  of  Li  Hsiang 
with  the  wu  just  mentioned.  She  said  to  the  prefect, 
"Under  a  tree  in  front  of  this  hall  I  see  a  man  in  a  red 
robe.  He  says  he  is  Lu  Tsung-shi,  late  Second  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Boards.  Go  to  welcome  him."  Li  Hsiang 
went  accordingly,  and  politely  invited  the  spirit  to  enter. 
"The  Superintendent  is  coming  in,"  said  the  medium.  A 
voice  was  then  heard  in  the  air  saying,  "Lu  Tsung-shi 


34  SPIRITISM  ii 

was  strangled  with  a  bow-string  in  this  very  hall.  He 
hates  such  strings,  therefore  please  remove  the  bow  that 
hangs  above  your  divan."  Li  Hsiang  did  so  and  sat 
down.  The  medium  then  cried,  "You  have  shown  a 
great  discourtesy  to  the  Superintendent  who  is  of  higher 
rank  than  you  in  sitting  down  first,  and  he  is  going  away 
in  anger.  Run  after  him  and  stop  him."  Li  Hsiang 
hastened  to  make  apologies,  and  heard  a  voice  up  in  the 
air  saying,  "So  gross  a  mistake,  you  presumed  to  sit  down 
in  my  presence  I"  After  repeated  entreaties  the  wu 
announced  that  the  Superintendent  had  at  last  consented 
to  return.  "What  has  the  gentleman  to  ask?"  said  a 
voice  in  the  air.  "He  most  humbly  begs  to  be  favoured 
with  a  word  telling  him  whether  glory  or  distress  shall 
be  in  store  for  him,"  said  the  wu.  The  voice  in  the  air 
answered,  "He  shall  be  welcomed  at  the  capital  by  many 
people;  in  a  month  after  his  arrival  in  the  city  he  shall  be 
prefect  of  Wu-chou."  The  voice  in  the  air  was  evidently 
the  product  of  ventriloquism,  and  this  is  a  common 
accomplishment  of  Chinese  mediums. 

Mediums  had  the  power  of  "materialisation"  of 
spirits,  that  is,  of  making  them  visible  to  other  people. 
The  so-called  History  of  the  South  records  that  under 
the  Emperor  Hsiao  Wu  (A.D.  454-465)  "there  was  a 
wu  who  could  see  spirits,  and  who  assured  the  Emperor 
that  it  would  be  possible  to  make  his  deceased  secondary 
consort  appear.  The  Emperor  was  very  glad  of  it,  and 
bade  him  evoke  her.  In  a  few  minutes  she  was  actually 
seen  on  a  curtain  in  the  shape  which  she  had  had  when 
alive.  The  Emperor  desired  to  speak  with  her,  but  she 
remained  silent;  and  just  as  he  would  fain  have  grasped 
her  hand,  she  vanished."  The  same  girl-medium  men- 
tioned above,  who  wrote  such  beautiful  literary  compo- 
sitions, also  possessed  powers  of  "materialising"  spirits. 
"In  that  house  the  spirit  occasionally  showed  its  shape, 
and  then  it  was  perceived  that  above  the  loins  it  was  like 
an  attractive  woman;  but  below  the  loins  it  was  always 


ii  SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  3s 

veiled  as  if  by  a  cloud.  She  could  play  beautifully  on  the 
lute ;  and  when  her  voice  chimed  in,  it  was  so  sweet  and 
pleasant  that  all  who  listened  forgot  their  cares."  23 

/'.  The  Abode  of  Disembodied  Spirits. — Like  all 
other  ancient  peoples,  the  Chinese  believed  that  spirits  of 
the  dead  maintained  a  close  connection  with  the  bodies 
that  they  had  formerly  occupied.  Just  as  they  returned  to 
these  from  sleep  or  from  swoons  so  they  returned  to  them 
from  death.  Consequently,  it  was  necessary  that  the 
body  should  be  preserved  intact  in  order  to  serve  as  a 
habitation  for  the  soul.  Injuries  to  the  body  inflicted 
corresponding  injuries  on  the  soul.  Criminals  who  had 
been  beheaded  wandered  about  as  headless  ghosts;  and 
when  the  heads  had  disappeared,  wooden  substitutes  were 
buried  with  the  corpses  in  the  hope  that  this  would  lay 
the  spectres.  The  dynasty  of  Chou  excluded  from  the 
tombs  of  the  kings  all  members  of  the  family  who  had 
died  a  violent  death.  Teeth  that  had  come  out  during 
life  and  nail  parings  were  carefully  preserved  in  order 
that  they  might  be  buried  with  the  dead.  Mutilation  of 
the  corpse  was  the  worst  penalty  that  could  be  inflicted 
upon  criminals.  An  ancient  law  reads:  "Whoever  mur- 
ders three  members  of  one  family,  shall  be  slowly  cut  up 
with  knives  till  death  ensues.  His  corpse  shall  be  chopped 
to  pieces,  and  his  head  exhibited  on  a  stake  as  a  warning 
to  the  public."  Bodies  of  offenders  were  often  exhumed 
in  order  that  punishment  might  be  inflicted  on  them. 
Shih  Lih,  a  pretender  to  the  throne,  burned  the  body  of 
the  general  who  had  fought  against  him  and  who  had 
died  in  311  A.D.  In  a  chronicle  of  the  Hsiao-chuang 
period  (525-528  A.D.)  it  is  narrated:  "Liu  Thing  had 
already  expired;  but  the  Empress,  remembering  his 
crimes,  had  his  grave  opened  and  his  body  destroyed, 
that  his  ghost  might  be  deprived  of  everything  in  which 
to  take  refuge."     So  dreadful  a  disaster  to  the  dead  is 

MSee  de  Groot,  vi.  pp.   1212-1341;  Dore,  i.   132-138. 


36  SPIRITISM  n 

mutilation  of  their  corpses  that  it  is  prohibited  under 
heavy  penalties  by  the  Legal  Code:  "Whoever  mangles 
or  destroys  the  corpse  of  a  member  of  another  family,  or 
casts  it  into  the  water,  shall  be  punished  with  one  hundred 
blows  with  the  long  stick,  and  shall  be  transported  for  life 
to  a  country  three  thousand  miles  distant." 

The  grave  is  the  dwelling-place  of  the  dead,  and  with- 
out a  grave  they  have  no  home.  The  unburied  dead  are 
ghosts  who  roam  the  earth  and  haunt  the  living.  Such 
are  those  who  have  been  drowned,  lost  in  the  mountains 
or  deserts,  devoured  by  wild  beasts,  or  who  have  no 
relatives  to  provide  for  their  interment  so  that  their 
bodies  are  cast  out  like  carrion,  or  the  spirits  of  infants 
that  have  been  exposed  by  their  parents.  It  is  considered 
a  pious  deed  to  care  for  bodies  of  the  unburied,  and 
benevolent  societies  exist  which  provide  coffins  and  small 
sums  for  funeral  expenses  for  the  worthy  poor.  It  is 
also  one  of  the  functions  of  the  Government  to  see  that 
no  dead  remain  unburied. 

Improper  burial  is  almost  as  bad  as  no  burial,  for  the 
dead  cannot  rest.  Officers  who  offended  the  Emperor 
were  punished  in  ancient  times  by  being  condemned  to  a 
poor  and  mean  burial.  When  tombs  became  ruinous,  the 
shades  became  restless  and  haunted  the  living  until 
repairs  were  made.  A  certain  governor  named  Wen 
Ying  had  a  dream  in  which  a  man  appeared  to  him  who 
said:  "Ere  now  my  parents  buried  me  hereabouts,  but 
when  the  tide  rises  it  flows  over  my  grave;  the  coffin 
being  submerged,  it  becomes  half  full  of  water,  so  that  I 
possess  nothing  wherein  to  keep  myself  warm."  There- 
upon the  spectre  lifted  up  its  clothes  to  show  Wen  Ying 
that  they  were  wet  through.  "Where  is  your  coffin?" 
asked  Ying.  "Ten  pu  to  the  north,"  said  the  ghost, 
"under  a  withered  willow  tree  on  the  bank  of  the  river." 
The  next  day  Ying  looked  for  the  place,  found  the  con- 
ditions to  be  as  the  ghost  had  described  them  and 
removed  the  coffin  to  a  dry  spot. 


ii  SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  37 

This  association  of  the  spirit  with  the  corpse  is  the 
reason  why  members  of  the  same  family  are  buried 
together.  It  is  felt  that  occupancy  of  the  same  tomb 
secures  reunion  in  the  other  world.  The  earliest  records 
bear  testimony  to  the  conveying  of  bodies  from  a  distance 
to  be  interred  in  the  family  grave,  and  down  to  the  pres- 
ent time  the  bones  of  Chinese  who  have  died  in  America, 
or  in  other  remote  lands,  are  sent  home  for  burial.  In 
cases  where,  for  one  reason  or  another,  bodies  could  not 
be  brought  back,  provision  was  made  in  ancient  times  for 
the  burial  of  their  souls  with  their  ancestors.  Graves 
were  prepared,  the  spirits  were  invoked  to  return,  and 
soul-tablets  bearing  the  name  of  the  deceased,  and  gar- 
ments that  had  belonged  to  them  were  interred  with  the 
usual  ceremonies.  The  placing  of  gifts  in  the  grave  and 
the  offering  of  sacrifices  at  the  grave,  on  which  more 
will  be  said  later,  also  bear  witness  to  the  belief  that 
spirits  of  the  dead  inhabit  the  grave.24 

In  sharp  contrast  to  this  is  the  idea  which  is  found 
already  in  the  Canonical  Books  and  Classics  that  spirits 
of  the  dead  are  "in  the  sky"  or  "on  high."  Thus  one  of 
the  ancient  odes  of  the  Shi-king  says: 

"Kings  die  in  Chou,  and  others  rise, 
And  in  their  footsteps  tread. 
Three  there  had  been,  and  all  were  wise, 
And  still  they  ruled,  though  dead. 
Tai,  Chi,  and  Wen  were  all  in  heaven, 
When  Wu  to  follow  them  was  given."  25 

When  Wu,  the  first  king  of  the  Chou  dynasty,  was  sick, 
his  brother  invoked  the  spirits  of  the  three  nearest  ances- 
tors as  follows:  "Your  principal  descendant  is  suffering 
from  a  grievous  illness.  If  you  three  kings  in  the  sky 
have  charge  of  him,  take  me  as  a  substitute  for  his  per- 
son." 26     Of  King  Wen  of  the  Chou  dynasty  it  is  said  in 

31  See  de  Groot,   i.   342-355;   ii.   378-381;  iii.   829-934. 

211  Ski-king,   III.  i.  Ode  9;   translated  by   Legge,   Religions   of  China,   p.    77. 

M  Shu-king,   V.  vi.  S. 


38  SPIRITISM  ii 

the  odes  :  "After  death  he  went  to  rest  on  high,  enshrined 
in  light."  "The  spirit  of  Wen  could  rest  in  peace  in  the 
sky."  27  This  conception  of  the  abode  of  the  soul  arises 
apparently  from  the  idea  that  it  is  breath,  wind,  or  light, 
and  hence  is  allied  to  the  celestial  powers.  It  may  also 
be  due  to  the  fact  that  the  same  word  shen  is  applied  to 
spirits  of  the  dead  and  to  heavenly  spirits  so  that  confu- 
sion between  the  two  is  possible.  The  same  confusion  of 
thought  is  found  in  many  other  early  religions.28 

At  a  very  early  date  the  Chinese  philosophers  tried  to 
explain  this  inconsistency  by  the  theory  of  two  souls  in 
man.  The  universe  was  regarded  as  the  result  of  a  union 
of  two  opposite  principles  Yang  and  Yin.  Yang  showed 
itself  in  heaven,  light,  day,  south,  summer,  male,  etc.; 
and  Yin  in  earth,  darkness,  night,  north,  winter,  female, 
etc.  Human  nature  was  composed  of  the  same  two  ele- 
ments. Thus  the  Li-ki  (VII.  iii.  i)  says:  "Thus  it  is 
that  man  consists  of  the  beneficial  substances  that  com- 
pose the  Heavens  and  the  Earth,  of  the  co-operation  of 
the  Yin  and  the  Yang,  and  of  the  union  of  a  kuei  with  a 
shen."  In  XXI.  ii.  I  of  the  same  work  we  read:  "Tsai 
Ngo  spoke :  'I  have  heard  the  terms  kuei  and  shen,  but  I 
do  not  know  what  they  mean' ;  on  which  Confucius  said 
to  him:  'The  ch'i  is  the  full  manifestation  of  the  shen, 
and  the  p'o  is  the  full  manifestation  of  the  kuei;  the 
union  of  the  kuei  with  the  shen  is  the  highest  among  all 
tenets.  Living  beings  are  all  sure  to  die,  and  as  they 
certainly  return  (kuei)  to  the  Earth  after  their  death,  the 
soul  (which  accompanies  them  thither)  is  called  kuei. 
But  while  the  bones  and  flesh  moulder  in  the  ground  and 
mysteriously  become  earth  of  the  fields,  the  ch'i  issues 
forth  and  manifests  itself  on  high  as  a  shining  ming 
(light).'"  These  statements  are  mere  philosophical 
speculations  that  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  actual  popu- 
lar beliefs.     As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  ordinary  linguistic 

"Ski-king,  III.  i.   Ode   1. 
M  See  pp.  107,  128,  172. 


ii  SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  39 

usage  the  shen  and  the  ming  are  connected  with  the  grave 
quite  as  often  as  the  kuei.  The  gravestone,  or  the  ances- 
tral tablet,  is  occupied  by  the  shen;  the  pagoda  which 
shelters  the  tombstone  is  called  "tower  of  the  ming" ; 
objects  buried  in  tombs  are  called  "implements  for  the 
ming,"  and  grave-clothes  are  called  "coats  and  petticoats 
for  the  ming."  All  this  shows  that  originally  no  distinc- 
tion of  two  spirits  in  man  was  made,  and  that  this  refine- 
ment has  left  no  impression  upon  popular  thought  or 
language.  The  double  abode  of  the  dead  remains,  there- 
fore, an  unexplained  mystery.29 

g^_  Deification  of  the  Dead. — In  view  of  the  mysteri- 
ous powers  that  spirits  of  the  dead  possess  it  is  not 
surprising  that  they  are  regarded  by  the  Chinese  as 
belonging  to  the  class  of  gods  rather  than  of  men.  They 
are  a  species  of  the  genus  shen,  which  embraces  a  multi- 
tude of  spirits  of  all  kinds.  At  the  head  of  the  hierarchy 
stands  T'ien,  "the  Sky,"  commonly  translated  "Heaven." 
A  synonymous  term  is  Shang-ti,  "High  Ruler."  This  is 
the  nearest  that  the  Chinese  religion  comes  to  the  idea 
of  God.  Next  in  importance  to  the  Sky-spirit  are  the 
other  celestial  spirits  who  preside  over  astronomical  and 
atmospheric  phenomena.  They  are  called  by  the  generic 
name  shen,  or  "spirits."  Beneath  them  stand  spirits  of 
the  earth  called  ch'i.  The  compound  shen-ch'i  expresses 
the  totality  of  spirits  in  heaven  and  earth,  like  the 
Sumerian  AN-KI.  The  great  mountains  and  rivers  also 
have  their  tutelary  spirits,  which  are  known  as  the  kuei- 
shen  of  these  places.  Spirits  of  the  soil  are  called  she, 
and  spirits  of  the  crops  chi.  The  compound  she-chi 
designates  the  collective  gods  of  agriculture.  There  is 
no  difference  of  kind  between  these  spirits  and  spirits  of 
the  dead.     They  differ  only  in  rank  and  in  functions. 

h.     Worship  of  the  Dead. — At  the  very  beginning  of 
authentic   history   the   right   to   worship   the    spirits   of 

33  See    de    Groot,    iv.    pp.    1-9. 


4o  SPIRITISM  n 

Heaven  and  of  Earth  was  taken  from  the  common  people 
and  made  a  function  of  the  Government.  The  ordinary- 
citizen  was  allowed  to  worship  only  his  own  ancestors 
and  the  numen  of  the  threshold  or  of  the  oven.  Repre- 
sentatives of  the  clan  were  allowed  to  worship  the  pre- 
siding genius  of  its  fields;  and  representatives  of  the 
families  in  a  village,  to  worship  the  local  guardian  of  the 
soil.  The  magistrate  worshipped  the  spirits  of  his  dis- 
trict; the  prefect,  those  of  his  department;  the  governor, 
those  of  his  province.  The  great  feudal  princes  sacri- 
ficed to  the  presiding  spirits  of  their  states,  to  the  rivers 
and  mountains  within  their  territories,  and  to  the  gods  of 
fertility  within  the  same  boundaries.  The  Emperor 
alone  had  the  right  to  sacrifice  to  Heaven  and  Earth,  the 
great  rivers  and  mountains  of  the  empire,  and  to  the 
spirits  of  agriculture  of  the  entire  realm.  For  any  other 
man  to  perform  these  functions  was  an  act  of  rebellion. 
Confucius  himself  said:  "For  a  man  to  sacrifice  to  a  kuei 
not  his  own  ancestor  is  presumptuous  flattery."  30 

Being  debarred  from  the  worship  of  nature-spirits, 
people  in  general  knew  no  other  religion  than  ancestor- 
worship.  Thus  it  came  about  that  this  particular  cult 
attained  a  development  in  China  that  is  without  a  parallel 
in  other  parts  of  the  world.  Other  races  have  practised 
ancestor-worship  as  a  subsidiary  rite  alongside  of  the 
worship  of  gods  and  nature-spirits;  but  the  Chinese  have 
exalted  it  to  the  first  place,  and  have  made  all  other  forms 
of  religion  secondary.  As  early  as  the  classical  books 
ancestor-worship  had  become  the  chief  religion  of  the 
nation;  and  in  spite  of  the  spread  of  Taoism  and 
Buddhism,  it  holds  its  own  down  to  the  present  time. 
The  ideograph  for  "filial  piety,"  hsiao,  is  one  of  the 
oldest  signs  in  the  language.  It  is  composed  out  of  the 
combined  signs  for  "old  man"  and  "son."  In  regard 
to  this  piety  Confucius  says:     "The  services  of  love  and 

*°  Sayings   of   Confucius,   II.  xxiv. 


ii  SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  41 

reverence  to  parents  when  alive,  and  those  of  grief  and 
sorrow  for  them  when  dead : — these  completely  discharge 
the  fundamental  duty  of  living  men."  31  "The  service 
which  a  filial  son  does  to  his  parents  is  as  follows : — In  his 
general  conduct  to  them  he  manifests  the  utmost  rever- 
ence; in  his  nourishing  of  them  his  endeavour  is  to  give 
them  the  utmost  pleasure;  when  they  are  ill,  he  feels  the 
greatest  anxiety;  in  mourning  for  them  when  dead,  he 
exhibits  every  demonstration  of  grief;  in  sacrificing  to 
them,  he  displays  the  greatest  solemnity.  When  a  son 
is  complete  in  these  five  things,  (he  may  be  pronounced) 
able  to  serve  his  parents."  32 

Ordinarily  only  the  three  immediate  ancestors  of  the 
head  of  the  family  are  worshipped,  the  great-grand- 
father, grandfather,  and  father.  Remoter  forefathers 
receive  only  a  collective  homage  once  a  year. 

Higher  officers  of  the  government  and  emperors,  who 
have  the  privilege  of  worshipping  other  spirits  besides 
those  of  the  dead,  nevertheless  agree  with  the  common 
people  in  regarding  ancestor-worship  as  the  chief  duty  in 
religion.  The  Shu-king,  II.  i.  iii.  6,  says  of  Shun  (2254 
B.C.)  :  "Thereafter,  he  sacrificed  specially,  but  with 
the  ordinary  forms,  to  Heaven;  sacrificed  purely  to  the 
six  Honoured  Ones  (i.e.,  ancestors)  ;  offered  their  ap- 
propriate sacrifices  to  the  hills  and  rivers;  and  extended 
his  worship  to  the  host  of  spirits."  Here  the  ancestors 
of  the  reigning  dynasty  rank  next  after  Heaven,  and 
before  the  sun,  moon  and  all  other  spirits.  The  Chou 
dynasty  added  Earth  after  Heaven;  and,  with  this  modi- 
fication, this  order  of  imperial  sacrifices  lasted  down  to 
the  fall  of  the  late  Manchu  dynasty.  The  sacrifices  to 
Heaven  and  Earth  were  celebrated  only  at  the  summer 
and  winter  solstices  and  on  a  few  other  special  occa- 
sions, while  ancestor-worship  went  on  at  all  times.  This 
explains  why  it  is  mentioned  in  the  imperial  chronicles 

81  Hsiao-king,  chap,  xviii. 
32  Ibid.,   chap.   x. 


42  SPIRITISM  ii 

and  odes  far  more  frequently  than  any  other  royal  cult. 
Under  the  Chou  dynasty  the  emperor  had  seven  an- 
cestral shrines:  one  for  the  "great  ancestor,"  or  founder 
of  the  family;  another  for  Wen,  Duke  of  Chou,  the 
father  of  Wu;  another  for  Wu,  the  founder  of  the  dy- 
nasty; and  the  rest  for  the  four  immediate  ancestors  of 
the  emperor.  When  an  emperor  died,  the  spirit-tablet 
of  his  great-great-grandfather  was  removed  to  the  hall 
of  the  remote  ancestors,  the  tablets  of  his  three  imme- 
diate ancestors  were  moved  up  one  space,  and  his  own 
tablet  was  set  up  in  the  last  shrine.  The  tablets  of 
the  consorts  of  the  emperors  were  placed  beside  those 
of  their  husbands.  The  moral  character  of  a  deceased 
ruler  made  no  difference  in  the  homage  that  was  paid 
him.  The  prosperity  of  the  empire  depended  upon  the 
proper  celebration  of  the  ancestral  rites.  Confucius 
says:  "By  their  ceremonies  in  the  ancestral  temple 
they  worshipped  the  forefathers.  He  who  should  un- 
derstand the  great  sacrificial  ceremonies,  and  the  mean- 
ing of  the  ceremonies  in  the  ancestral  temple,  would  find 
it  as  easy  to  govern  the  empire  as  to  look  upon  the 
palm  of  his  hand." 

The  feudal  dukes  had  five  ancestral  shrines:  that 
of  the  "great  ancestor"  and  those  of  the  four  imme- 
diate forefathers.  High  officials  had  three  shrines:  that 
of  the  "great  ancestor,"  grandfather,  and  father.  When 
a  man  was  ennobled,  his  ancestors  also  were  ennobled  by 
imperial  decree  so  that  they  might  become  suitable  ob- 
jects of  worship  for  the  new  dignitary;  and  if  he  were  de- 
graded, his  ancestors  were  degraded  also.  Lower  offi- 
cials were  allowed  only  one  shrine,  that  of  the  imme- 
diate forefather. 

Besides  the  ancestors  of  the  reigning  house  the  state 
religion  paid  homage  to  the  discoverers  of  arts  or  sci- 
ences, to  sages,  statesmen,  deliverers  from  calamities, 
and  other  public  benefactors  of  the  past.  Thus  the 
Li-ki  in  the  last  section  of  the  book  on  sacrifice  says: 


ii  SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  43 

"The  rule  observed  by  the  sage  kings  in  instituting  sac- 
rifices was  this: — that  those  who  had  legislated  for  the 
people  should  be  sacrificed  to,  also  those  who  had  died 
in  the  diligent  discharge  of  their  duties,  those  whose 
toils  had  established  states,  and  those  who  had  warded 
off,  or  given  succour  in  great  calamities."  Such  persons 
were  known  as  "Assistants  of  Heaven."  Among  these 
were  Shen-nung,  a  prehistoric  emperor  who  taught  his 
people  to  till  the  ground  and  to  cultivate  grain;  Hou-tsi, 
the  original  ancestor  of  the  dynasty  of  Chou,  born  of  a 
virgin  who  became  pregnant  by  "treading  in  a  footprint 
of  the  Lord  (Ti),"  the  conqueror  of  the  nine  provinces. 

Confucius  himself  belonged  to  this  class.  It  is  said 
that  the  Prince  of  Lu,  Confucius'  native  state,  built  a 
shrine  in  his  honour  after  his  death  where  sacrifices 
were  offered  four  times  in  the  year.  The  first  emperor 
of  the  Han  dynasty  in  194  B.C.  visited  the  grave  of 
Confucius  in  Shan-tung  and  sacrificed  a  pig,  a  sheep, 
and  a  bullock.  Fifty  years  later  a  temple  was  built  to 
Confucius  in  his  native  city  of  Ch'ufu,  and  in  A.D.  59 
Emperor  Ming-ti  ordered  that  offerings  be  made  to 
Confucius  in  all  state  schools.  In  A.D.  72  the  same 
Emperor  ordered  the  tablets  of  the  seventy-two  disciples 
to  be  set  up  and  offerings  to  be  made  to  them.  In 
286  it  was  decreed  that  sacrifices  should  be  offered  to 
him  four  times  in  the  year  on  the  imperial  altar  and  on 
the  altar  of  his  own  temple.  In  55  it  was  ordered  that 
a  temple  should  be  built  to  him  in  the  capital  of  every 
district.  At  the  present  time  temples  of  Confucius  are 
found  in  all  the  larger  cities,  and  he  has  become  the  object 
of  an  extensive  national  cult. 

i.  Rites  Preparatory  to  Burial. — Immediately  be- 
fore death  a  person  is  removed  from  his  bed  and  placed 
on  a  sort  of  bier  consisting  of  three  boards,  where  he 
is  washed  and  his  head  shaved  in  order  that  he  may 
make  a  good  appearance  on  entering  the  world  of  spirits. 
As  soon  as  death   occurs  the  whole   family  break  out 


44  SPIRITISM  ii 

in  loud  howlings  and  laments,  begging  the  dead  to  re- 
turn and  expostulating  with  him  for  leaving  them.  Then 
follows  the  curious  custom  of  the  "recall  of  the  soul" 
referred  to  on  p.  18.  The  relatives  now  unbraid  their 
cues,  and  let  their  hair  fly  loose  (cf.  Leviticus,  21  :io), 
and  put  on  garments  of  coarse  brown  sackcloth  which 
they  wear  whenever  any  funeral  rites  are  being  cele- 
brated. The  eyes  of  the  corpse  are  then  closed,  and  the 
body  is  washed  with  water  brought  from  a  well  into 
which  coins  have  been  thrown  as  an  offering  to  the 
indwelling  numen.  Certain  jewels  that  give  life  are 
placed  in  the  mouth.  A  light  is  kept  burning  near  the 
body  at  night,  and  dishes  of  food  and  cups  of  drink 
are  placed  near  it,  so  that  if  the  soul  returns,  it  may  at 
once  find  nourishment. 

The  next  day  the  deceased  is  dressed  in  an  undergar- 
ment of  cotton  or  linen,  lined  with  an  expensive  sort 
of  silk  velvet  designed  to  give  comfort  in  the  grave,  and 
in  new  outer  garments  such  as  were  worn  on  official  occa- 
sions during  life.  A  lunch  is  set  out  on  a  table,  and  a 
temporary  soul-tablet  is  brought  to  be  occupied  by  the 
spirit  after  the  body  is  placed  in  the  coffin.  At  the  bot- 
tom of  the  coffin  a  quantity  of  rice  paper  is  strewn,  over 
this  a  loose  board  with  seven  holes,  then  a  mattress, 
then  a  mat,  and  a  small  pillow  for  the  head.  The  body 
is  laid  in  the  coffin,  and  with  it  are  put  a  few  personal 
articles  such  as  a  pipe,  fan,  or  pen,  or  in  the  case  of  a 
child,  a  toy.  The  remaining  space  in  the  coffin  is  stuffed 
with  "spirit"  paper  money  for  use  in  the  other  world, 
the  cover  is  put  on  and  is  hermetically  sealed.33 

;'.  Graves,  Tombs,  and  Mausolea. — In  the  very 
earliest  times,  apparently,  the  Chinese  lived  in  caverns 
excavated  in  the  clay  cliffs  along  the  banks  of  their 
rivers.  When  a  member  of  the  famly  died,  his  body 
was  left  in  the  cave  that  he  had  inhabited  during  life, 
and  it  was  abandoned  by  the  rest  of  the  household.     In 

"See  de  Groot,  i.  pp.  1-240;  Dore,  i.  41-46. 


ii  SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  45 

a  slightly  more  advanced  stage  of  civilisation  huts  of 
branches  were  constructed  and  plastered  with  clay,  and 
these  also  were  given  up  if  a  death  occurred.  Out  of 
these  two  primitive  forms  of  houses  all  later  types  of 
Chinese  tombs  have  developed.  They  are  either  sub- 
terranean excavations  {mu) ,  or  tumuli  {fen)  that  simu- 
late the  shape  of  the  ancient  huts.  When  expensive 
and  comfortable  houses  began  to  be  built,  they  were 
no  longer  surrendered  to  the  dead,  but  these  were  pro- 
vided with  abodes  of  the  prehistoric  type.  In  the  south 
of  China  graves  predominate  at  the  present  time.  In 
the  central  and  northern  provinces  hemispherical  mounds 
are  more  common.  These  frequently  have  a  stone  slab 
carved  to  represent  a  closed  door  inserted  in  the  front. 
This  is  an  architectural  survival  of  the  primitive  hut 
door.  Graves  are  commonly  constructed  by  digging 
and  packing  in  earth  mixed  with  lime  which  forms  a 
solid  vault.  Tumuli  are  built  up  over  the  coffin  which 
is  placed  at  or  near  the  surface  of  the  ground. 

The  more  elaborate  tombs  of  the  wealthy  tend  to 
imitate  houses.  The  tumulus  corresponds  to  the  central 
back  room  of  the  house.  In  front  of  this  is  a  wall 
bearing  the  gravestone,  which  corresponds  to  the  an- 
cestral tablets  in  the  home.  In  front  of  this  is  the 
"grave  hall"  which  corresponds  to  the  main  hall  of  the 
house.  This  contains  an  altar  for  offerings  to  the  shades 
which  corresponds  to  the  table  in  the  house  on  which 
offerings  are  placed  before  the  ancestral  tablets.  In 
front  of  the  hall  is  the  "grave  court"  which  corresponds 
to  the  court  in  front  of  the  house.  These  fundamental 
architectural  elements  are  capable  of  indefinite  elabora- 
tion in  proportion  to  the  wealth  or  the  rank  of  the 
deceased.  The  most  splendid  sepulchral  monuments  of 
Chinese  antiquity  that  have  come  down  to  us  are  the 
tombs  of  the  emperors  of  the  Ming  dynasty  (1368- 
1643  A.D.).  Here  the  tumulus  has  become  a  costly 
mausoleum,    the    "soul-tower."      The    "spirit  hall"   has 


46  SPIRITISM  ii 

been  developed  into  a  temple,  and  the  court  into  a  mag- 
nificent avenue  of  approach  flanked  with  colossal  stone 
images  of  animals. 

k.  Rites  of  Burial. — The  poor  usually  bury  their 
dead  on  the  day  after  decease.  More  prosperous  people 
wait  until  the  third  day.  The  wealthy  wait  sometimes 
weeks  or  months  in  order  to  determine  an  auspicious 
day  or  an  auspicious  place  for  the  burial.  The  art  of 
determining  such  matters  is  known  as  Feng-shui.  It  is 
in  the  hands  of  experts  who  demand  high  fees  for  their 
services.  It  is  so  difficult  to  secure  proper  places  for 
burial  that  coffins  are  often  stored  for  years  in  receiving 
vaults  where  they  pay  rent  until  a  grave  can  be  found. 
The  coffin  is  carried  to  the  grave  on  a  catafalque  borne 
on  the  shoulders  of  fellow-villagers  or  clansmen.  A  cop- 
per coin  is  placed  in  each  corner  of  the  grave,  and  five 
kinds  of  cereals  and  some  iron  nails  are  strewn  over  the 
bottom.  The  professor  of  Feng-shui  performs  certain 
rites  calculated  to  render  the  spiritual  climate  salubrious, 
and  the  coffin  is  lowered  into  the  grave,  amid  firing  of 
guns,  beating  of  drums,  gongs  and  cymbals,  and  howls 
of  lamentation.  The  permanent  soul-tablet  is  laid  upon 
the  coffin,  and  the  sons  exclaim,  "Father  (or  Mother), 
arise !"  The  spirit  thereupon  enters  into  the  tablet  as  its 
perpetual  abiding  place.  The  tablet  is  removed  from 
the  grave,  and  the  temporary  tablet,  or  spirit-banner  is 
put  in  its  place,  also  slate  tablets  engraved  with  a  biogra- 
phy of  the  deceased,  and  the  censer  and  candlesticks  that 
were  used  during  the  funeral  services.  All  these  rites 
which  are  practised  in  modern  China  can  be  traced  back 
to  a  high  antiquity.34 

In  ancient  times  all  sorts  of  gifts  were  placed  with  the 
dead  in  the  graves.  The  Li-ki,  XIX.  ii.  36,  says  that 
parched  grain,  fish,  and  dried  meat  were  deposited  with 
the  dead  in  the  period  of  the  Chou  dynasty.  The  I-li, 
speaking  of  the  same  period,  enumerates  the  following 

««  Dore,  i.  S3-S7. 


ii  SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  47 

articles  that  were  buried  with  ordinary  officials:  "Two 
baskets  of  meat,  three  hampers  of  millet,  panicled  millet 
and  wheat,  three  earthen  pots  with  pickled  meat,  pre- 
served meat,  and  sliced  food,  two  earthen  jars  with  must 
and  spirits."  In  the  case  of  princely  or  imperial  burials 
enormous  quantities  of  food  were  placed  in  the  graves. 
Other  articles  deposited  in  the  grave  during  the  Chou 
dynasty  were  pieces  of  silk,  costly  garments,  armour, 
weapons,  jewelry,  tools,  and  vessels  of  various  sorts. 
Huge  treasures  were  interred  in  the  tombs  of  emperors 
and  feudal  princes,  and  this  often  led  to  their  rifling  in 
later  ages.  To  prevent  this  stringent  laws  were  passed 
and  garrisons  of  troops  were  stationed  to  guard  the  tombs 
against  marauders.  Favourite  animals  were  also  killed 
and  buried  with  their  owners  so  that  they  might  be  used 
in  the  other  world. 

Human  sacrifice  was  not  infrequent  in  ancient  times. 
The  earliest  recorded  case  is  in  619  B.C.  when  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy  persons  were  buried  with  the  prince  of 
Ts'in.  About  600  B.C.  a  certain  Wei  Wu-tzu  gave  orders 
before  his  death  that  a  favourite  concubine  should  be 
buried  alive  with  him.  In  587  B.C.  several  living  persons 
were  interred  with  Wen,  the  ruler  of  Sung.  A  certain  man 
gave  two  of  his  daughters  to  be  buried  with  the  emperor 
as  a  sign  of  gratitude  for  favours  conferred  upon  his 
father.  In  210  B.C.  all  childless  wives  of  the  emperor 
were  buried  with  him.  Cases  of  this  sort  are  reported 
as  late  as  the  Ming  dynasty  (1300  A.D.),  and  it  is  said 
to  have  happened  at  the  funeral  of  a  Manchu  emperor 
in  1 66 1.  This  custom  is  unquestionably  a  survival  of  a 
primitive  rite  that  was  practised  by  all  ancient  peoples, 
and  that  still  lingers  among  savages.  Closely  akin  is  the 
custom  of  suicide  of  wives  or  betrothed  maidens,  which 
existed  until  within  a  few  years. 

The  waste  of  property  and  of  life  which  these  sacrifices 
involved  early  called  forth  protests  and  efforts  to  substi- 
tute less  valuable  articles.     Even  under  the  Chou  dynasty 


48  SPIRITISM  ii 

the  bows  and  arrows  placed  with  the  dead  were  unfit 
for  real  use.  About  650  B.C.  Huan,  king  of  Ts'i,  com- 
plained that  all  woven  stuffs  were  made  up  into  grave- 
clothes  and  shrouds,  and  all  timber  into  coffins  and  grave- 
vaults.  He  forbade  expensive  funerals  under  penalty 
that  the  dead  should  be  mangled  and  the  mourners 
beaten.  According  to  the  Li-ki,  II.  i.  iii.  22,  the  phi- 
losopher K'ang  Tzu-kao  said:  "I  have  never  been 
of  any  use  to  others  during  my  life,  and  may  I  do  them 
no  harm  by  my  death.  When  I  die  select  a  plot  of 
ground  that  does  not  produce  any  food  and  bury  me 
there." 

Confucius  discouraged  the  burial  of  costly  articles 
with  the  dead.  "When  his  disciples  wished  to  give  Yen 
Yuen  a  costly  burial  at  his  death,  the  Master  advised 
them  not  to  do  any  such  thing,  nevertheless  they  buried 
him  in  rich  style.35  In  the  Li-ki,  II.  i.  iii.  3,  we  read: 
"If  we  were  to  treat  the  dead  as  if  they  were  quite  alive, 
we  should  betray  great  ignorance.  For  this  reason  the 
bamboo  instruments  are  not  quite  fit  to  use,  those  of 
earthenware  cannot  well  be  washed,  nor  can  those  of 
wood  be  carved.  The  citherns  and  lutes  are  strung,  but 
not  tuned;  the  mouth-organs  and  Pandean  pipes  are  in 
good  order,  but  not  attuned  to  the  same  key;  there  are 
also  bells  and  sonorous  stones,  but  no  stands  to  suspend 
them  from.  These  things  are  called  instruments  for  the 
manes,  because  they  are  for  the  use  of  human  souls." 
According  to  the  Li-ki,  II.  ii.  i.  44,  "Confucius  also 
said:  'Those  who  make  such  implements  for  the  manes  of 
the  dead  show  that  they  are  acquainted  with  the  right 
method  of  conducting  funeral  rites;  for  those  implements, 
although  ready  at  hand,  are  unfit  for  actual  use.  The 
carts  of  clay  and  straw  images  of  men  and  horses,  which 
have  been  in  vogue  since  ancient  times,  are  founded  on 
the  same  principle  as  the  implements  for  the  manes.'  " 

*  Lun-yii,  xi.  10. 


II 


SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  49 


This  shows  that  long  before  the  time  of  Confucius  the 
custom  had  appeared  of  placing  imitations  instead  of  real 
persons  and  things  with  the  dead.  Little  by  little  this 
custom  displaced  that  of  burying  wives,  slaves,  and  ani- 
mals with  their  master.  Images  of  stone,  wood,  clay,  or 
even  of  straw  were  substituted  in  their  stead.  In  course 
of  time  paper  imitations  of  all  the  articles  formerly  buried 
with  the  dead  were  prepared,  and  instead  of  being  placed 
in  the  grave  they  were  burned  at  the  home  during  the 
funeral  ceremonies,  and  the  ashes  were  carried  to  the 
grave  and  deposited  there.  The  custom  of  placing  food 
and  other  offerings  in  the  tomb  has  entirely  disappeared 
from  modern  China.  Under  the  Chou  dynasty,  when 
the  burial  was  completed,  an  "impersonator"  was  ap- 
pointed who,  as  the  representative  of  the  dead  partook 
of  food  that  was  set  before  him.  With  this  "sacrifice 
of  repose,"  we  are  told,  "the  service  of  him  as  living 
ceases,  and  that  for  him  in   his  ghostly  state  begins."  36 

/.  Ancestral  Shrines  and  Temples. — The  grave  is  not 
the  only  sanctuary  of  the  dead.  Besides  this  there  is  the 
place  in  which  the  soul-tablets  of  the  ancestors  are  depos- 
ited. In  poorer  families  this  consists  of  a  shelf  in  the 
main  hall  of  the  house  directly  opposite  the  front  door 
on  which  the  tablets  are  placed  immediately  after  the 
funeral.  Wealthier  families  have  special  shrines  or  tem- 
ples designed  for  the  housing  of  these  tablets.  These 
were  the  first  temples  in  China.  The  nature-spirits  had 
only  open-air  sanctuaries,  but  spirits  of  the  dead  had 
houses.  When  a  new  capital  was  to  be  built,  the  first 
care  was  to  erect  a  temple  for  the  ancestors  of  the  reign- 
ing house.  The  new  building  was  consecrated  with  the 
blood  of  victims  slain  in  a  dedication  sacrifice.  In  2258 
B.C. S7  Yao  resigned  the  throne  to  Shun  in  the  temple  of 
the  Accomplished  Ancestor.  At  the  beginning  of  his 
reign  Shun  sacrificed  a  bullock  in  the  temple  of  the  Culti- 

38  See  de  Groot,  ii.  pp.  361-473;  659-827;  Dore,  i.   109-113. 
"  Shu-king,  II.  i.  4. 


50  SPIRITISM  ii 

vated  Ancestor.38  Shun  invested  Yii  as  his  successor  in 
the  temple  of  the  Spiritual  Ancestor.39  Under  Shun  a 
special  officer  had  charge  of  the  rites  in  the  ancestral 
temple.40  In  regard  to  the  arrangement  of  the  shrines 
in  the  ancestral  temple  see  p.  42.  When  a  dynasty- 
came  to  an  end  its  ancestral  temple  was  closed  and  sacri- 
fices were  suspended.  The  reigning  monarch  proved  his 
right  to  the  throne  by  erecting  a  new  temple  in  which 
his  forefathers  who  had  given  him  the  sovereignty  en- 
joyed supreme  homage.  Frequent  mention  is  made  of 
virtuous  descendants  who  repaired  the  temples  of  their 
ancestors. 

m.  Rites  of  Mourning  for  the  Dead. — In  the  earliest 
period  known  to  history  the  Chinese  were  accustomed  to 
mourn  for  the  dead  by  leaving  their  houses  and  dwelling 
in  sheds,  wearing  scanty  and  coarse  garments,  and 
fasting.  All  three  of  these  customs  are  alluded  to  in 
the  Li-ki,  XXXII.  3 :  "The  shabby  coat  with  its 
edges  roughly  cut  off,  and  the  mourning  staff;  dwelling 
in  a  shed  reared  against  the  wall;  eating  rice  gruel  there, 
and  sleeping  on  straw  or  matting  with  a  clod  of  earth 
for  a  pillow — these  things  are  the  outward  signs  of  the 
deepest  grief."  De  Groot  thinks  that  these  rites  have 
grown  out  of  the  surrender  of  property  to  the  dead  men- 
tioned above.  When  the  house  was  abandoned  to  the 
corpse,  temporary  shelters  had  to  be  erected  for  the  rela- 
tives. When  garments  and  food  were  buried  in  the 
grave,  nothing  but  rags  and  remnants  were  left  for  the 
survivors.  Later,  when  cheap  substitutes  were  placed  in 
the  grave,  the  ancient  forms  of  poverty  were  retained 
through  religious  conservatism.  For  other  explanations 
of  these  ceremonies,  which  are  found  among  all  primi- 
tive peoples,  see  p.  9J.  The  requirements  of  mourning 
were  graded  according  to  the  nearness  of  relationship 

M  Shu-king,  II.  i.  8. 
"Ibid.,  II.   ii.   19. 
*°Ibid„  II.  i.  23. 


ii  SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  51 

to  the  deceased.  In  some  cases  it  lasted  as  long  as 
twenty-seven  months,  the  rigours  being  slowly  abated  as 
time  went  on. 

n.  Sacrifices  to  the  Dead. — In  addition  to  the  offer- 
ings that  were  placed  in  the  grave  at  the  time  of  burial, 
offerings  were  also  placed  upon  the  grave  at  stated  times 
subsequently.  In  proportion  as  the  burial  sacrifices  de- 
clined the  other  sorts  of  sacrifice  gained  in  importance. 
According  to  the  Li-ki,  chap.  V.  ii.  19,  Confucius,  when 
asked  what  the  son  of  a  concubine  ought  to  do  if  the  son 
of  the  principal  wife  were  away,  said:  "He  shall  erect 
an  altar  in  front  of  the  grave,  and  sacrifice  there  at  each 
of  the  four  seasons."  Mencius  speaks  of  people  who 
lived  by  picking  up  the  remnants  of  sacrifices  to  the  dead. 

Other  sacrifices  were  offered  at  the  ancestral  shrines 
or  temples  where  the  soul-tablets  were  preserved.  These 
are  mentioned  with  great  frequency  in  the  Canonical 
Books.  The  Emperor  Shun  (2255-2205  B.C.),  when- 
ever he  returned  from  his  tours  through  the  provinces, 
sacrificed  a  bullock  at  the  temple  of  the  Cultivated  An- 
cestor.41 I-Yin,  chief  minister  of  T'ang,  founder  of  the 
Shang  dynasty,  "in  the  twelfth  month  of  the  first  year 
sacrificed  to  the  former  king,  and  presented  the  heir  to 
the  throne  reverently  before  his  ancestor."  42  Wu,  the 
founder  of  the  Chou  dynasty,  gave  as  a  reason  for  over- 
throwing Shou,  the  last  king  of  the  Shang  dynasty:  "He 
neglects  the  temple  of  his  ancestors  and  does  not  sacri- 
fice in  it.  The  victims  and  the  vessels  of  millet  all  be- 
come the  prey  of  wicked  robbers."  43  Of  King  Wen, 
the  ancestor  of  the  house  of  Chou,  it  is  said:  "He  never 
offended  against  the  laws  enacted  by  his  ancestors,  and 
he  offered  to  them  the  red  bull  in  sacrifice.44  Sacrifices 
were  offered  to  Wen  himself  by  his  successors.  "To  the 
virtuous  King  Wen,  worthy  of  glory  and  honour,  princes 

u  Shu-king,    II.     i.    8. 

"Ibid.,  IV.   iv.   1. 

43  Ibid.,  V.  i.  Pt  i.  6. 

"  Shi-king,  III.  i.  Odes  S  and  6. 


52  SPIRITISM  ii 

and  officials  offer  the  red  bull  with  great  devotion."  45 
Concerning  Wu,  the  founder  of  the  Chou  dynasty,  we 
read:  "On  the  day  ting-wei  he  sacrificed  in  the  ancestral 
temple  of  Chou,  when  the  chiefs  of  the  imperial  domain, 
and  of  the  tien,  hou,  and  wet  domains  all  hurried  about 
carrying  the  dishes."  46  The  Odes  also  narrate:  "King 
Wu  offered  sacrifices  to  his  meritorious  father  and  accom- 
plished mother.  A  bull  was  offered,  and  the  praises  of 
Wen  were  sung,  whose  wisdom  in  peace  and  might  in 
war  gave  repose  even  in  high  heaven."  47  King  Ch'eng, 
the  successor  of  Wu,  "led  his  brilliant  assembly  of  min- 
isters and  princes  to  the  shrine  of  his  father,  to  whom 
he  made  his  offerings  and  accomplished  his  filial  duty."  48 

Deceased  emperors  were  also  worshipped  at  the  time 
of  the  annual  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  Heaven.  On  the 
top  of  the  altar  on  the  north  side  the  tablet  of  Heaven 
was  placed.  On  the  east  and  west  sides  stood  the  tablets 
of  the  imperial  ancestors.  Before  each  tablet  offerings 
of  food  were  spread,  the  emperor  burned  sticks  of  in- 
cense, laid  before  each  a  piece  of  jade  and  a  roll  of  silk, 
presented  a  bowl  of  broth,  and  poured  out  a  libation  of 
rice  wine.  This  sacrifice  was  in  existence  in  the  time  of 
the  Emperor  Shun,  and  it  lasted  down  to  the  fall  of  the 
late  Manchu  dynasty.  The  sacrifice  offered  to  Heaven 
was  known  as  chiao,  that  to  the  ancestors  as  yin. 

The  materials  of  sacrifice  included  every  sort  of  food 
that  was  acceptable  to  men.  These  are  enumerated  in 
the  odes  of  the  Shi-king  and  in  the  ceremonial  directions 
of  the  Li-ki.  Bullocks,  sheep  and  swine  were  the  animals 
commonly  offered.  They  were  slain  inside  the  gate  of 
the  ancestral  temple,  the  fat  was  burned  in  a  furnace  for 
a  sweet  savour,  and  the  meat  was  cooked  and  presented 
on  platters  before  the  ancestral  tablets.  Meat  broth  was 
also  served,  or  poured  out  to  the  spirits  as  libations.   One 

"Shirking,  IV.  i.   Odes  1-10. 
*>  Shu-king,  V.  iii.  3. 
"Shi-king,  IV.  i.  ii.  Ode  7. 
« Ibid.,  Ode  8. 


ii  SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  53 

of  the  odes  of  the  Chou  period  says:  "Oxen  and  sheep 
without  blemish  are  brought  in  an  orderly  and  reverent 
manner  for  the  sacrifices  in  autumn  and  winter.  Some 
men  are  deputed  to  cut  up  the  flesh,  others  to  boil  it; 
some  divide  the  meat,  others  set  it  out  in  order.  Inside 
of  the  gate  of  the  ancestral  temple  the  officiating  person 
presents  his  sacrifice.  In  its  variety  the  service  is  com- 
plete and  splendid  in  its  general  effect."  40  Fish  of  all 
sorts  were  presented  to  the  deified  emperors  in  the  an- 
cestral temple  at  the  time  of  the  winter  sacrifices.  Fruits 
and  vegetables  also  were  offered.  Cooked  dishes  in  end- 
less variety  were  prepared  by  the  ladies  of  the  imperial 
harem  to  add  to  the  sacrificial  meats.  In  the  earliest 
times  water  was  the  only  liquid  offered  to  the  shades  in 
libations  (as  in  ancient  Babylonia),  and  it  retained  its 
place  in  the  ritual  down  to  late  times;  but  after  the  dis- 
covery of  distillation  it  was  thought  that  strong  drink 
was  more  acceptable  to  the  spirits.  "Morning  and  eve- 
ning King  Wen  never  wearied  in  teaching  that  strong 
drink  must  be  used  in  sacrifice."  This  liquor  was  dis- 
tilled from  various  kinds  of  millet  and  rice,  and  was 
flavoured  with  different  sorts  of  herbs  and  spices.  Be- 
sides food  and  drink  precious  objects  of  any  sort  might 
be  offered  to  the  ancestors,  such  as  gems,  jade  stones, 
precious  metals  and  pieces  of  silk.  To  sum  it  all  up, 
there  was  nothing  valued  by  man  that  was  not  suitable 
in  sacrifice  to  the  dead. 

The  sacrifices  were  accompanied  with  music,  singing, 
and  dancing.  As  one  of  the  odes  says:  "The  flute  play- 
ers dance  to  the  organ  and  the  drum,  the  instruments  all 
playing  in  harmony.  This  is  done  to  gratify  the  merito- 
rious ancestors,"  50  These  dances  were  solemn  panto- 
mimes exhibiting  scenes  in  the  lives  of  the  famous  fore- 
fathers. During  the  Chou  period  a  favourite  subject 
was  Wu's  victory  oyer  Shou,  the  last  king  of  the  Shang 

"  Shi-king,  II.  vi.  Ode   5. 
w  Ibid.,  vii.  Ode  6,  2. 


54  SPIRITISM  ii 

dynasty.  Target  practice  was  another  ceremony  "to 
give  pleasure  to  the  august  personators  of  the  dead." 
"The  great  target  is  set  up,  the  bows  and  arrows  are 
ready  for  the  archers,  who  are  matched  in  classes.  'Show 
your  skill,'  shouts  one.  'I  shall  hit  the  mark,'  responds 
the  other,  'and  then  you  will  have  to  drink  the  cup.'  ' 

The  purpose  of  all  these  offerings  is  to  provide  the 
dead  with  the  same  things  that  they  have  enjoyed  on 
earth.  They  need  these  things,  and  if  they  have  no 
descendants  to  supply  them,  they  suffer  from  the  lack. 
When  these  offerings  are  presented,  they  draw  near  to 
enjoy  them,  they  are  pleased  with  the  filial  piety  that  is 
shown,  and  they  bless  the  sacrifices 

Sacrifices  were  at  the  same  time  feasts  in  which  the 
living  shared  the  viands  with  the  dead  and  thus  held 
communion  with  them.  They  were  great  family  re- 
unions to  which  all  the  descendants  and  friends  of  the 
honoured  dead  were  invited.  One  of  these  memorial 
feasts  is  described  in  the  odes  as  follows :  "When  the 
guests  first  go  to  sit  on  their  mats,  they  take  their  seats 
orderly  on  the  left  and  the  right.  The  dishes  of  bamboo 
and  of  wood  are  set  out  containing  sauces  and  kernels. 
The  liquors  are  blended  and  good.  The  guests  drink 
with  reverence.  .  .  .  The  company  is  happy  and  full 
of  joy,  each  exerting  himself  to  the  full  extent  of  his 
ability.  A  guest  draws  the  liquor,  which  an  attendant 
takes  in  a  cup.  The  full  cup  is  handed  to  the  guests — 
the  cup  of  requiem  (cf.  Jeremiah,  16:7).  .  .  .  When 
the  guests  first  take  their  seats  on  the  mats  they  are  har- 
monious and  reverent.  In  manner  they  are  dignified  be- 
fore they  have  drunk  too  much;  but  after  they  have 
drunk  too  much  their  dignity  disappears  and  their  man- 
ners become  frivolous.  They  leave  their  seats  and  dance 
and  caper  around.  .  .  .  Had  they  gone  out  before 
drinking  so  deeply,  both  host  and  guest  would  have  been 
happier."  At  the  conclusion  of  the  feast  the  assembled 
guests  praised  the  king  who  had  invited  them,  saying: 


ii  SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  55 

"On  account  of  your  filial  piety  in  offering  sacrifices  to 
the  spirits  of  your  ancestors,  Heaven  will  protect  and 
establish  you,  making  you  very  strong  and  conferring 
upon  you  all  happiness."  51 

These  sacrificial  feasts  for  the  dead  were  celebrated 
regularly  at  the  summer  and  winter  solstices  and  at  the 
vernal  and  autumnal  equinoxes.  "Once  every  season 
worship  was  performed.  .  .  .  They  repaired  and 
beautified  the  temple  of  their  ancestors,  set  forth  the 
vessels  that  had  belonged  to  them,  displayed  their  vari- 
ous robes,  and  presented  the  offerings  of  the  several 
seasons."  52  Ch'eng-I,  a  famous  scholar  of  the  eleventh 
century  of  our  era,  had  a  temple  connected  with  his 
house  and  furnished  with  the  spirit-tablets  of  his  an- 
cestors. "Before  these  on  the  first  day  of  each  month 
he  set  forth  fresh  offerings.  He  observed  the  seasonal 
services  in  the  second  month  of  each  season.  At  the 
winter  solstice  he  sacrificed  to  his  remotest  ancestor;  in 
the  beginning  of  the  spring,  to  his  grandfather;  and  in 
the  third  month  of  autumn,  to  his  father.  On  the  anni- 
versary of  a  death,  he  removed  the  tablet  of  the  in- 
dividual to  the  principal  adytum  of  the  temple,  and  there 
performed  a  special  service;  for  the  rites  of  the  service 
of  the  dead  ought  to  be  observed  more  liberally  than 
the  duty  of  nourishing  the  living."  53  In  the  temple  of 
the  imperial  ancestors  there  were  also  sacrifices  on  special 
occasions  such  as  a  time  of  drought  or  a  time  of  war. 
The  so-called  Ti  sacrifice  was  offered  every  fifth  year  to 
the  remote  ancestors  of  the  emperor.  On  the  fifteenth 
day  of  the  seventh  moon  a  sort  of  All  Soul's  Day  was 
observed  for  the  benefit  of  "hungry  ghosts"  who  had  no 
relatives  to  provide  for  them.  On  this  day  people  gen- 
erally made  offerings  to  these  "orphan  spirits"  to  ap- 
pease them  and  to  keep  them  from  troubling  the  living.54 

"Shi-king,  II.  vii.  Ode  6. 

82  Doctrine  of  the  Mean,  Chap.  xix. 

63  Legge,    The   Religions   of   China,    p.    86. 

M  See  p.   141f. 


56  SPIRITISM  ii 

The  value  of  the  sacrifice  depended  largely  upon  the 
minute  and  punctilious  performance  of  the  traditional 
ceremonial,  there  was  therefore  a  Minister  of  Ritual 
who  had  charge  of  all  the  services  at  the  temple  of  the 
imperial  ancestors.  I-Yin,  the  minister  of  T'ang,  said: 
"It  is  difficult  to  serve  the  spirits  by  sacrifice.  The  offer- 
ing must  be  made  orderly  and  with  reverence.  If  pre- 
sented in  a  disorderly  and  irregular  fashion,  it  indicates 
a  spirit  of  irreverence.  If  the  ceremonial  connected  with 
it  is  troublesome  or  irritating,  it  causes  disorder."  At 
the  same  time  with  all  this  ritualism  we  find  utterances 
concerning  the  nature  of  true  worship  that  remind  us  of 
the  Hebrew  prophets.  The  same  I-Yin  just  mentioned 
said  also:  "The  ancestral  spirits  accept  the  sacrifices 
only  of  the  sincere  in  heart."  Another  classical  passage 
says:  "The  incense  of  good  conduct  is  more  acceptable 
to  them  than  the  most  costly  spices  burnt  in  a  censer." 
"The  fragrant  incense  which  moves  the  shen  and  the 
bright  ones  arises  from  perfect  government  and  not  from 
the  sacrifice  of  millet";  with  which  may  be  compared  I 
Samuel  15:22,  "Behold  to  obey  is  better  than  sacrifice, 
and  to  hearken  than  the  fat  of  rams."  In  the  Li-ki  it  is 
said  that  sacrifice,  being  a  fixed  custom  handed  down  from 
past  ages  and  to  be  carried  out  in  definite  forms,  should 
not  be  accompanied  with  prayer,  or  be  offered  in  the  hope 
of  deriving  any  personal  benefit  therefrom.  Confucius 
quoted  this  opinion  with  approval,  but  it  is  contrary  to 
the  spirit  of  the  ancient  Chronicles  and  of  the  Odes, 
where  the  rule  is  do  ut  des,  and  the  expectation  is  that 
the  sacrificer  will  receive  a  rich  reward  for  his  filial 
service. 

o.  Prayer  to  the  Dead. — All  important  events,  such 
as  births,  marriage  engagements,  deaths,  business  under- 
takings, journeys  and  returns,  are  solemnly  announced  at 
the  "family  altar"  before  the  ancestral  tablets.  In  the 
Li-ki,  V.  i.  1,  we  are  told:  "Tseng-tzu  asked:  'When 
a  successor  to  the  throne  is  born  after  the   demise  of 


ii  SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  57 

the  ruler  of  the  state,  how  is  one  to  act?'  Confucius 
said:  'The  highest  nobles,  great  officers  and  ordinary 
officers  shall  take  a  position  behind  the  minister  who 
administers  the  empire  ad  interim,  at  the  south  side 
of  the  western  steps,  turning  their  faces  to  the  north. 
The  Great  Invoker,  in  his  court  robes  and  cap,  bearing 
rolls  of  silk  in  his  hands,  shall  then  go  up  to  the  top  of 
the  western  steps;  and  there,  without  entering  the  hall, 
he  shall,  when  the  wailers  have  been  ordered  to  stop  their 
cries,  call  three  times  (to  the  soul)  and  make  announce- 
ment to  it,  saying:  "The  son  of  such-and-such  a  lady  has 
been  born;  I  presume  to  inform  thee  of  this  event."  '  " 
At  all  sacrifices  the  ancestors  are  invoked  to  be  present, 
and  the  hymns  that  are  sung  are  largely  praises  of  their 
virtues.  The  quality  most  celebrated  in  the  forefathers  is 
their  filial  piety  toward  their  own  ancestors.  Petitions 
for  blessing  were  presented  to  the  shades  in  connection 
with  all  sacrifices;  and  in  times  of  war,  famine,  pestilence, 
or  other  distress  special  litanies  were  addressed  to  them. 
The  most  famous  instance  of  prayer  to  the  dead  in 
the  ancient  literature  is  the  supplication  of  the  Duke  of 
Chou  in  behalf  of  his  brother,  King  Wu.  "He  made 
three  altars  of  earth  on  the  same  cleared  space;  and 
having  made  another  altar  on  the  south,  facing  the  north, 
he  there  took  his  own  position.  The  convex  symbols 
were  put  on  their  altars,  and  he  himself  held  his  mace, 
while  he  addressed  the  kings  T'ai,  Chi  and  Wen.  The 
historian  wrote  on  tablets  his  prayer  as  follows :  'Wu, 
your  chief  descendant,  is  suffering  from  a  severe  and 
dangerous  sickness.  If  you  three  kings  have  in  heaven 
the  charge  of  watching  over  him,  the  great  son,  let  me, 
Tan,  be  a  substitute  for  his  person.  I  have  been  lovingly 
obedient  to  my  father.  I  am  possessed  of  many  abilities 
and  arts  which  fit  me  to  serve  spiritual  beings.  Your 
chief  descendant,  on  the  other  hand,  has  not  so  many 
abilities  and  arts  as  I,  and  is  not  so  capable  of  serving 
spiritual  beings.      Moreover,  he   was   appointed  in  the 


58  SPIRITISM  ii 

celestial  hall  to  extend  his  aid  to  the  four  quarters  of  the 
empire  so  that  he  might  establish  your  descendants  in 
this  lower  world.  The  people  of  the  four  quarters  stand 
in  reverent  awe  of  him.  Oh!  do  not  let  that  precious 
Heaven-conferred  appointment  fall  to  the  ground,  and 
our  former  kings  will  also  have  a  perpetual  reliance  and 
resort.'  "  55  One  of  the  finest  poems  of  the  Shi-king  56  is  a 
prayer  of  King  Hsiian  to  his  ancestors  in  time  of  drought. 

The  spirits  were  believed  to  be  specially  attentive  to 
prayers  of  an  unselfish  character.  "The  prayers  of  the 
men  who  strive  after  friendship  will  be  heard  by  the 
shen,  who  will  bestow  upon  them  peace  and  harmony." 
Kings  prayed  therefore  that  their  minds  might  be  en- 
lightened so  that  they  might  follow  the  good  example  of 
their  forefathers  and  bring  peace  and  prosperity  to  their 
people. 

p.  Exorcism  of  Spirits  of  the  Dead. — This  discussion 
would  not  be  complete  without  some  mention  of  the 
methods  of  driving  away  hostile  spirits.  As  early  as  the 
Classics  mention  is  made  of  the  no  or  yang  sacrifice  to 
ward  off  evil  spirits.  This  was  performed  three  times 
in  the  year :  in  the  last  month  of  spring,  in  mid-autumn, 
and  in  the  last  month  of  winter.  Victims  were  cut  in 
pieces  and  placed  in  the  city  gates  in  order  to  ward  off 
unpropitious  influences.  These  sacrifices  were  occasions 
of  noisy  demonstration  to  frighten  away  the  restless 
ghosts.  In  the  Li-ki  (IX.  i.  16)  it  is  recorded  of 
Confucius,  "When  his  fellow-citizens  celebrated  the 
yang,  he  put  on  his  court  robes  and  took  position  on  the 
eastern  steps,  in  order  to  shield  his  household  gods." 
Evidently  Confucius  was  afraid  that  the  din  of  the  yang 
might  frighten  away  his  ancestral  spirits  as  well  as  the 
demons  for  which  it  was  intended. 

The  chief  methods  of  exorcising  evil  spirits  are  offer- 
ings such  as  are  presented  to  friendly  spirits,  and  in  addi- 

M  Shu-king,  V.   vi.   6-7. 
M  Shi-king,  III.  iii.  Ode  4. 


ii  SPIRITISM  IN  CHINA  59 

tion  prophylactic  rites  such  as  are  not  needed  in  the  case 
of  good  ghosts.  Among  the  latter  noises  of  every  sort 
occupy  a  conspicuous  place.  Fire-crackers  are  exploded, 
gongs  and  drums  are  beaten,  and  trumpets  are  blown  in 
order  to  terrify  the  spectres.  Since  evil  demons  belong 
to  the  Yin,  or  realm  of  darkness,  they  are  successfully 
combatted  with  light,  fire,  and  fire-works,  which  belong 
to  the  Yang  principle  of  the  universe.  Devils  are  driven 
out  of  sick  men  by  cauterizing  them,  or  by  giving  them 
nasty  drugs  to  drink.  Peach  wood  has  extraordinary 
virtue  in  warding  off  demons,  hence  twigs  of  this  tree, 
or  amulets  made  of  its  wood,  are  extensively  used  as 
charms.  Pictures  or  images  of  tigers  or  of  cocks  are 
also  efficacious.  Weapons  of  various  sorts  when  dis- 
played in  conspicuous  ways  frighten  the  spirits  away 
from  houses.  Written  charms,  especially  passages  from 
the  Classical  Books,  are  suspended  at  the  doors  of  houses, 
or  are  worn  on  the  person  to  avert  evil  influences.  The 
wu,  whom  we  have  met  already  as  mediums  possessed 
by  the  spirits,  act  also  as  exorcists  to  drive  away  hostile 
ghosts.  This  is  also  the  main  function  of  the  Taoist  and 
Buddhist  priests.  In  general  it  may  be  said  that  fear 
of  evil  spirits  occupies  quite  as  large  a  place  in  the 
Chinese  mind  as  reverence  for  good  spirits. 


CHAPTER  III 

SPIRITISM    AMONG    THE    INDO-EUROPEANS 

a.  Distribution  and  Characteristics  of  the  Indo-Euro- 
peans. — By  Indo-Europeans  we  mean  a  group  of  races 
extending  from  Northern  India  to  the  Atlantic,  which 
speaks  kindred  languages  and  possesses  similar  religions 
and  social  institutions.     To  this  group  belong: — 

1.  The  Aryans  of  Northern  India. — In  the  second 
millennium  B.C.  this  race  began  to  push  through  the 
passes  of  the  Himalayas  and  to  settle  in  the  Punjab.  It 
drove  the  older  Dravidian  population  before  it,  until 
they  were  expelled  from  Hindustan  and  were  concen- 
trated in  the  Deccan,  with  the  exception  of  slaves  and 
low  castes  that  were  assimilated  by  the  invaders.  The 
language  of  the  Aryans  was  Sanskrit,  and  in  the  Rig 
Veda  we  have  a  collection  of  their  earliest  hymns  dating 
from  about  1000-800  B.C.  Later  Sanskrit  literature 
includes  the  remaining  Vedas,  the  two  great  epics,  the 
Mahabhdrata  and  Ramayana,  the  philosophic  writings 
of  the  Brahmanas  and  Upanishads,  the  Laws  of  Manu, 
and  many  other  works. 

2.  The  Iranians  of  Media  and  Persia. — The  Irani- 
ans and  the  related  nomadic  tribes  which  the  Assyrians 
called  Gagu  (Heb.  Gog)  and  Umman  Manda,  and  the 
Classical  writers  grouped  under  the  general  name  of 
Scythians  must  have  entered  the  ancient  kingdom  of 
Elam  about  the  same  time  that  the  Aryans  entered  India. 
Their  language  Iranian,  or  Zend,  appears  in  the  inscrip- 
tions of  the  Achaemenian  kings  of  the  sixth  century  B.C. 
and  in  the  Avesta,  the  sacred  book  of  the  Zoroastrian 
religion.     Zoroaster,  the  prophet-reformer  of  Iran,  who 

60 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS    61 

is  believed  to  have  flourished  in  the  seventh  century 
B.C.,  has  left  his  teaching  in  the  Gathas,  the  oldest  por- 
tion of  the  Avesta.  The  other  parts  of  the  Avesta  con- 
tain the  later  traditional  development  of  his  teaching. 
The  Avesta  has  been  preserved  by  the  Parsees  of  the 
Bombay  Presidency  in  India,  who  are  the  sole-remaining 
adherents  of  the  ancient  Zoroastrian  religion.  The  lan- 
guage of  the  Achcemenian  inscriptions  and  of  the  Avesta 
is  as  nearly  related  to  Sanskrit  as  Spanish  is  to  Italian. 

3.  The  Phrygians  and  Armenians  of  Asia  Minor  and 
Armenia. — Here  the  dominant  class  that  gave  its  lan- 
guage and  its  institutions  to  the  nation  was  akin  to  the 
Aryans  of  Persia  and  India,  while  the  lower  classes  that 
eventually  mixed  with  the  conquerors  were  the  aboriginal 
populations  of  the  land.  No  ancient  literature  has  come 
down  from  these  peoples,  but  survivals  of  folk-lore 
among  the  Armenians  throw  light  upon  their  primitive 
religious  conceptions. 

4.  The  Hittit e-M.il anni  Group. — The  Hittites  are 
first  mentioned  in  a  Babylonian  chronicle  as  invading 
Babylonia  during  the  reign  of  Samsuditana,  the  last  king 
of  the  first  dynasty  of  Babylon  ( 1956-1926  B.C.) .  From 
that  time  onward  they  play  an  important  part  in  the 
history  of  Western  Asia  until  their  destruction  by  the 
Assyrian  Empire  after  1000  B.C.  The  excavation  by 
Winckler  of  Boghazkeui,  the  ancient  Hittite  capital,  dis- 
closed a  large  number  of  tablets  written  in  Babylonian 
cuneiform  characters  but  in  the  Hittite  language.  Since 
the  death  of  Winckler  these  have  been  studied  by  F. 
Hrozny,1  who  maintains  that  their  dialect  belongs  to 
the  so-called  centum,  or  western  group  of  Indo-Germanic 
languages,  which  includes  Greek,  Italic,  Germanic,  and 
Celtic,  in  which  the  word  for  'hundred'  is  centum  (pro- 
nounced kentum)  or  a  cognate;  in  distinction  from  the 
satem,  or  eastern  group,  in  which  the  word  for  'hun- 

1  Mitthcilungen     der     Deutschcn     Orient-Gesellschaft,     Ivi,      1915;     xxx,      1920; 
Boghaskbi-Studicn,    1920. 


62  SPIRITISM  in 

dred'  is  satem  or  a  cognate.  Its  nearest  affiliations  are 
with  Latin. 

The  Mitanni  people  of  Northern  Syria,  who  first 
appear  in  the  Tell  el-Amarna  letters,  written  to  the 
Egyptian  Pharaohs  Amenhotep  III  and  Amenhotep  IV 
about  1400  B.C.,  were  closely  connected  with  the  Hit- 
tites.  Documents  discovered  at  Boghazkeui  show  that 
the  ruling  dynasty  in  Mitanni  worshipped  the  Aryan 
gods  Varuna  and  Mithra.  They  called  themselves  Harri, 
which  perhaps  is  identical  with  "Aryans."  2 

5.  The  Slavs. — The  eastern  branch  of  this  race  in- 
cludes the  Great  Russians  of  Russia  proper,  the  White 
Russians  of  Western  Russia  who  live  along  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Dnieper  River,  the  Little  Russians  of  the 
Ukraine  and  of  Austria-Hungary  where  they  are  called 
Ruthenians,  and  the  Cossacks  of  the  Crimea  and  east- 
ward. The  northern  branch  includes  the  Letts  who  in- 
habit the  Russian  provinces  of  Vitebsk,  Livonia  and 
Courland  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Baltic;  the  Lithu- 
anians south  of  the  Letts;  and  the  Prussians,  who  until 
the  tenth  century  inhabited  the  lowlands  at  the  mouths 
of  the  Niemen,  Vistula  and  Oder.  Later  they  were  con- 
quered and  Germanized  by  the  Teutonic  Knights.  The 
western  branch  includes  the  Poles,  whose  kingdom  was 
partitioned  during  the  eighteenth  century  between  Rus- 
sia, Austria,  and  Prussia,  but  which  has  been  reconstituted 
as  a  result  of  the  recent  World-War;  the  Wends  who 
dwell  in  the  Spreewald  on  the  upper  waters  of  the  River 
Spree  in  Saxony  and  Prussia;  the  Czechs,  or  Bohemians, 
together  with  the  Slovaks  to  the  east  and  the  Moravians 
to  the  south,  who  speak  practically  the  same  language, 
and  are  now  united  in  the  Republic  of  Czecho-Slovakia. 
The  southern  branch,  or  Jugo-Slavs,  includes  the  Slo- 
venes,  Slavonians,  Dalmatians,   Montenegrins,   Serbians 

2  See  H.  Winckler,  Mittheilungen  der  deutschen  Orient-Gesellschaft,  xxxv,  1908; 
E.  Meyer,  "Das  erste  Auftreten  der  Arier  in  der  Geschichte,"  Sitzungsbericht 
d.  konig.  preuss.  Akademie,  Berlin,   1908,  pp.   14ff. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS    63 

and  Bulgarians,  who  occupy  a  broad  belt  running  from 
west  to  east,  south  of  Austria-Hungary  and  Roumania. 
The  Slavs  have  left  no  ancient  literary  records,  but 
they  have  retained  old  ideas  and  institutions  more  per- 
fectly than  any  other  branch  of  the  Indo-European  race. 
The  White  Russians  have  preserved  ancestor-worship  of 
a  most  primitive  type  in  full  force  down  to  the  present 
time.    The  North  Slavic  languages,  Lettish,  Lithuanian, 
and  old  Prussian,  disclose  some  very  early  features  of 
Indo-European   speech.      On  one   side   they  are   closely 
related  to  Sanskrit,  on  another  side  to  the  West  Slavic 
dialects;  and  they  are  nearer  to  Latin  than  they  are  to 
Celtic  or  Teutonic.    They  occupy  a  unique  place  in  Indo- 
European  philology.     Among  the  North  Slavs  heathen- 
ism lasted  longer  than  in  any  other  part  of  Europe,  so 
that  their   early  institutions   have   remained  unchanged 
almost  down  to  the  present.  As  late  as  1550  the  Lutheran 
pastor  Jan  Maleki  (Meletius,  or  Menecius)  reported  in 
regard  to  the  heathenism  that  still  existed  among  the 
Prussian   peasants,    and   about    1660   another   Lutheran 
pastor,   Matthaeus   Praetorius,   found  the   conditions  un- 
changed. The  Northern  Slavs  occupy  much  the  same  place 
among  the  Indo-Europeans  that  the  Arabs  do  among  the 
Semites.    They  have  best  preserved  the  primitive  culture 
of  their  race.     Consequently,  students  of  comparative  re- 
ligion go  to  them  to  find  the  earliest  forms  of  rites  that 
have  been  elaborated  in  India,  Persia,  Greece,  and  Italy. 
6.      The  Greeks. — As  early  perhaps  as  1500  B.C.  the 
Achaeans  and  Ionians  had  begun  to  settle  in  Northern 
Greece,   and  in  the   following  centuries   they  gradually 
pressed  southward,  dispossessing  or  assimilating  the  older 
non-Aryan,  Mediterranean  race  which  was  akin  to  the 
Berbers  and  Egyptians  of  North  Africa.     These  abori- 
gines were  called  Pelasgians  by  the  invaders.    They  were 
the   originators   of   the   splendid   iEgean   civilisation   in 
Crete  and  at  Troy,  Mycenae  and  Tiryns  that  reached  its 
culmination  about  1500  B.C.     The  earliest  Greek  civili- 


64  SPIRITISM  in 

sation  is  known  to  us  only  from  archaeological  remains, 
but  the  period  from  iooo  B.C.  onward  is  represented  by 
the  Homeric  epics,  which  originally  were  transmitted 
orally,  but  which  subsequently  were  committed  to  writ- 
ing about  700  B.C.  From  this  time  onward  an  un- 
broken stream  of  literature  testifies  to  the  beliefs  of  the 
ancient  Greeks  in  regard  to  spirits  of  the  dead.  The 
Greek  language  and  some  elements  of  the  Greek  race 
survive  among  the  modern  Greeks  and  the  Albanians. 

7.  The  Latins. — As  early  as  the  Achaean  migration 
into  Greece  other  Indo-European  tribes  penetrated  Italy, 
driving  before  them  the  aboriginal  Alpine  and  Mediter- 
ranean inhabitants  of  the  peninsula.  These  tribes  were 
eventually  united  under  the  rule  of  Rome,  and  Latin 
became  the  speech  of  the  entire  peninsula.  It  is  nearly 
related  to  Greek  on  the  one  side  and  to  Celtic  on  the 
other. 

8.  The  Celts. — In  Classical  times  the  Celts  occupied 
the  northern  part  of  Italy,  the  Alps,  and  the  regions  west 
of  the  Alps,  where  they  had  dispossessed  more  or  less 
completely  the  Picts,  Ligurians,  Iberians  and  other  non- 
Aryan  peoples.  They  were  conquered  by  the  Romans, 
and  adopted  the  Latin  language;  so  that  the  funda- 
mentally Celtic  Walloons  of  Belgium  and  the  Gauls 
speak  French,  and  the  Celto-Iberians  of  the  Spanish 
peninsula  speak  Spanish  and  Portuguese,  all  of  which  are 
descendants  of  Latin.  In  the  British  Isles  the  Celts  were 
conquered  by  Teutons,  and  here  their  languages  have 
given  place  to  English,  a  Teutonic  tongue.  Only  in 
isolated  corners  of  the  old  Celtic  world  have  Celtic  dia- 
lects survived.  The  Goidelic  group  includes  the  Gaels  of 
northern  Scotland,  the  Manx  of  the  Island  of  Man,  and 
the  Irish.  The  Brythonic  group  includes  the  Welsh,  the 
last  survivors  of  the  ancient  Britons;  the  Cornish  of 
Cornwall,  which  has  become  extinct  within  the  last  cen- 
tury; and  the  Bretons  of  Brittany  in  the  northwest 
corner  of  France.     The  Celtic  languages  bear  a  much 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS    6s 

closer  affinity  to  Latin  than  they  do  to  any  other  Indo- 
European  dialects.  These  languages  possess  no  ancient 
literatures;  still,  in  all  the  regions  where  they  survive, 
exceedingly  primitive  beliefs  and  institutions  have  been 
preserved. 

9.  The  Teutons. — The  original  seat  of  this  branch 
of  the  Indo-European  race  was  in  the  Scandinavian  pen- 
insula. Before  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era  they 
had  forced  their  way  in  between  the  Celts  and  the  Slavs, 
dispossessing  or  absorbing  tribes  of  both  races,  and 
occupying  the  whole  region  north  of  the  Alps  between 
the  Rhine  and  the  Oder  rivers.  They  menaced  the  Celts 
west  of  the  Rhine,  and  Julius  Caesar  had  to  make  a  cam- 
paign against  them  in  order  to  prevent  their  invasion  of 
the  Roman  province  of  Gaul.  In  the  fourth  century 
under  pressure  of  the  Huns  the  Teutons  again  began  to 
push  westward  and  southward.  After  the  downfall  of 
the  Huns  under  Attila  in  451,  the  Teutons  entered  into 
their  heritage.  In  476  Odoacer,  chief  of  the  Heruli, 
sacked  Rome  and  forced  the  last  emperor  to  abdicate. 
In  the  course  of  the  following  century  all  the  former 
provinces  of  the  Roman  Empire  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Vandals,  Goths,  Lombards,  Burgundians,  Franks  and 
Saxons,  branches  of  the  Teutonic  race,  and  it  looked  as 
though  the  Teutonizing  of  Europe  would  be  complete; 
but  the  Celto-Roman  civilisation  of  the  Empire  eventu- 
ally absorbed  the  conquerors,  and  the  Teutonic  lan- 
guages and  institutions  remained  limited  to  the  areas  that 
had  been  occupied  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era. 
The  present  Teutonic  peoples  are  the  Icelanders,  Nor- 
wegians, Swedes,  Danes,  Frisians,  Dutch,  Flemings,  Brit- 
ish, and  Germans. 

These  then  are  the  main  branches  of  the  Indo-Euro- 
pean race.  It  is  frequently  called  the  Aryan  race,  though 
less  correctly,  since  this  name  belongs  properly  to  the 
Indo-Iranians.  No  other  race  in  history  has  spread  so 
widely  and  has  preserved  its  language  and  its  institu- 


66  SPIRITISM  m 

tions  so  tenaciously.  No  other  race  has  played  so  large 
a  part  in  the  development  of  civilisation.  It  began  its 
career  later  than  the  Hamites  or  the  Semites,  but  it 
absorbed  all  that  was  best  in  their  attainments  and  far 
outstripped  them.  Aryan  civilisation  now  dominates  the 
world;  and  the  Arabic,  Chinese,  and  other  ancient  Ori- 
ental cultures  are  rapidly  disappearing  before  it.  It  is 
the  most  gifted  race  that  humanity  has  produced,  and  it 
has  lived  in  the  most  favourable  environment. 

b.  Civilisation  of  the  Primitive  Indo-Enropeans. — 
The  close  resemblances  of  all  the  languages  of  the 
branches  of  this  race  prove  that  it  must  once  have  been 
a  single  people  dwelling  within  a  more  contracted  area. 
Its  original  home  was  probably  the  steppes  of  Eastern 
Russia  and  Western  Asia.  This  region  lies  at  the  centre 
of  the  present  Indo-European  world,  and  is  the  natural 
cradle  for  a  race  of  wanderers  and  conquerors.  These 
steppes  support  only  a  nomadic  population  and  yield 
only  a  scanty  sustenance.  When  pasture  and  water  be- 
come scarce,  some  tribes  have  to  move  out  and  seek  new 
homes.  The  physical  characteristics  of  this  region  are 
thus  similar  to  those  of  Central  Arabia,  the  cradle  of 
the  Semitic  races,  and  to  Central  Asia,  the  cradle  of  the 
Turanian  races.  Here  as  early  as  3000  B.C.  there  wan- 
dered over  a  vast  area  a  group  of  tribes  speaking  similar 
dialects  and  possessing  a  similar  degree  of  culture.  Com- 
parative philology  and  archaeology  reveal  much  of  their 
primitive  language  and  institutions.  They  knew  the 
use  of  copper  (or  bronze),  for  the  word  for  this  metal 
is  found  in  widely  separated  Indo-European  languages; 
on  the  other  hand,  they  did  not  know  gold,  silver,  or 
iron,  for  these  metals  have  different  names  in  the  differ- 
ent languages.  Stone  was  still  used  for  most  of  the 
weapons.  They  had  clubs,  axes,  daggers,  spears  and 
lances,  bows  and  arrows,  but  no  swords  or  armour.  They 
had  cattle,  sheep  and  goats,  and  also  horses,  which  they 
used  both  for  riding  and  for  drawing  carts  and  chariots. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS    67 

Swine,  geese,  and  other  domestic  fowl  were  as  yet  un- 
known to  them.  Agriculture  was  known  to  them,  for 
the  words  for  field,  plough,  sow,  reap,  grind,  are  common 
to  most  of  the  languages.  They  possessed  the  arts  of 
spinning  and  weaving,  they  used  boats,  and  they  had  huts 
and  houses,  and  built  folds  for  their  cattle.  They  were 
patriarchally  organised,  and  the  house-father  was  both 
ruler  and  priest  of  his  household.  Groups  of  kindred 
families  united  under  the  leadership  of  an  elected  chief- 
tain called  vis-pati,  or  'lord  of  the  settlers,'  a  name  that 
still  survives  in  the  Lithuanian  zviez-pati,  or  'governor.' 
The  most  prominent  feature  in  the  religion  of  the 
primitive  Indo-Europeans  was  the  worship  of  the  bright 
powers  of  nature.  The  most  general  name  for  'god' 
was  deivos,  'heavenly,'  from  which  comes  Skr.  devd, 
Lat.  dens,  Ir.  dia,  Lith.  dieuas,  and  Old  Nor.  tivar. 
Chief  among  the  heavenly  ones  was  dyeus,  'the  sky,' 
from  which  comes  Skr.  Dyaus,  Gr.  Zeus,  Lat.  Jup-piter 
(L  e.f  'sky-father'),  Old  Nor.  Tyr,  Old  High  Germ. 
Ziu,  A.  Sax.  Tin  (from  which  comes  Tues-day).  In  Skr. 
Dyaus  has  retained  its  primitive  appellative  meaning 
'sky,'  in  the  other  languages  its  etymology  has  been 
forgotten  and  it  has  become  the  personal  name  of  the 
chief  god  of  the  pantheon.  On  the  contrary,  ouranos  has 
retained  in  Greek  its  primitive  meaning  'sky,'  while  in 
Sanskrit  Varuna  has  become  a  great  god.  Other  objects 
of  worship  were  the  sun,  Skr.  surya,  Iran,  hvar,  Ar. 
arevf  Gr.  helios,  Lat.  sol,  Celt,  heul,  Lith.  sdule,  Goth. 
sauil;  the  moon,  Skr.  mas,  Iran,  mah,  Armen.  lusin,  Gr. 
mene,  Lat.  luna,  Lith.  menu,  Goth,  mena;  the  dawn,  Skr. 
us  has,  Iran,  usah,  Gr.  ids,  Lat.  aurora,  Lith.  auszra. 
The  thunder-god  was  worshipped  by  all  the  Aryans,  but 
under  different  appellations.  In  India  and  Mitanni  he 
was  known  as  Indra;  among  the  Celts  as  Torannos,  Irish 
Torann,  Welsh  Tarann,  Cornish  Taran;  among  the  Teu- 
tons as  Tonar,  O.  Nor.  Thorr,  O.  H.  Germ.  Donar, 
Germ.  Donner,  Eng.  Thunder.     These  Celtic  and  Teu- 


68  SPIRITISM  in 

tonic  names  are  all  connected  with  Skr.  standyati,  Lat. 
tonat,  'it  thunders.'  Among  the  Lithuanians  he  was 
called  Perkunas,  which  is  the  same  as  Slavic  Perun  and 
Sanskrit  Parjanya,  and  probably  also  Armenian  Erkin. 
There  was  also  a  lightning  (fire) -god,  Skr.  Agni, 
Lat.  ignis,  Lith.  ngnis,  Slav.  ogni.  In  Latin  and 
in  Slavic  the  name  retained  its  primitive  meaning,  but  in 
Sanskrit  the  original  signification  was  obscured,  and 
therefore  Agni  developed  into  a  great  god.  Besides 
these  there  was  a  vast  number  of  so-called  "departmental 
gods"  who  presided  over  different  realms  of  nature  or 
sections  of  human  life.  Comparative  philology  shows 
that  the  great  gods  are  all  later  developments  of  par- 
ticular Aryan  religions,  and  that  the  primitive  faith  had 
not  risen  above  the  level  of  so-called  Animism  or  Poly- 
dsemonism. 

A  second  main  feature  of  Indo-European  religion  was 
the  worship  of  spirits  of  the  dead.  Over  against  the 
"heavenly  ones,"  the  bright  powers  of  the  upper  world, 
stood  a  host  of  subterranean  divinities,  among  whom 
spirits  of  the  dead  occupied  the  most  conspicuous  place. 
These  two  classes  of  divinities,  nature-spirits  and  spirits 
of  the  dead,  were  distinct  in  their  origin,  in  their  func- 
tions, and  in  their  manner  of  worship.  The  second  of 
these  must  now  receive  our  more  detailed  consideration.3 

3  On  ancestor-worship  among  the  Indo-Europeans  in  general  see  H.  Usener, 
Gottemamen,  1896;  E.  Meyer,  Geschichte  dcs  Altertums,2  1909,  vol.  i,  part  2, 
pp.  754-838;  O.  Schrader,  art.  "Aryan  Religion"  in  Hastings,  Encyclopedia  of 
Religion  and  Ethics,  ii,  1910,  pp.  11-57,  and  the  literature  given  in  both  of  these 
works;  G.  F.  Moore,  History  of  Religions,  i,  1913;  E.  W.  Hopkins,  The  History 
of  Religions,    1918. 

On  India,  see  Rig  Veda,  translated  in  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  xxxii,  and  xlvi, 
1891,  1897;  Atharva  Veda,  translated  by  Whitney  and  Lanman,  1905;  A. 
Barth,  The  Religions  of  India,  translated  by  J.  Wood,  1882;  E.  W.  Hopkins,  The 
Religions  of  India,  1895;  W.  Crooke,  The  Popular  Religion  and  Folk-lore  of 
Northern  India,  1896;  M.  Bloomfield,  The  Religion  of  the  Veda,  1908;  W. 
Crooke,  art.  "Ancestor-worship  (Indian)"  in  Hastings,  Enc.  Rel.  and  Eth.,  i,  pp. 
450-454. 

On  Persia,  see  The  Avesta,  translated  by  Darmesteter  and  Mills  in  Sacred  Books 
of  the  East,  iv,  xxiii,  xxxi,  1880-1897;  A.  V.  W.  Jackson,  Zoroaster,  the  Prophet  of 
Ancient  Iran;  E.  Lehmann,  art.  "Ancestor-worship  (Iranian)"  in  Hastings,  Enc. 
Rel.  and  Eth.,  i.   pp.   454f. ;   J.   H.   Moulton,  Early  Zoroastrianism,    1913. 

On   Armenia  see   M.   Abeghian,   Der  Armenische    Volksglaube,   1899. 

On   the   Greeks,  see  L.   R.    Farnell,   The   Cults   of  the   Greek   States,    1896-1909; 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS     69 

c.  Indo-European  Names  for  Spirits. — The  early- 
Aryans,  like  other  ancient  peoples,  conceived  of  the  soul 
as  breath,  wind,  vapour,  smoke,  shadow,  power;  and 
these  meanings  underlie  all  the  later  words  for  soul  or 
spirit.  Thus  Skr.  dtmdn,  'soul'  =  Germ,  athem  and  Ir. 
athach,  'breath.'  Skr.  mdnas,  'soul'  =Gr.  menos,  'force,' 
which  reappears  in  Lat.  Minerva  from  Menes-ova.  In 
the  Vedas  the  collective  term  for  spirits  of  the  dead  is 
pitdras,  'forefathers'  =  Lat.  patres.  In  the  Avesta 
spirits  of  the  dead  are  called  fravashis.  The  word  fra- 
vashi  means  'expression,'  or  'confession,'  and  is  so  used 
because  the  soul  is  the  inner  nature  of  a  man.  This  is 
probably  a  theological  development  of  Zoroastrianism 
which  has  displaced  a  simpler  terminology.  In  Armen- 
ian the  word  for  'soul'  and  'spirit'  is  ogi  =  Skr.  dtmdn 
and  Germ,  athem,  'breath.' 

In  Gr.  pneuma  means  primarily  'breath,'  and  then 
'soul';  psuche  likewise  means  'breath,  spirit,'  and  in 
Homer    is    used    exclusively    of    the    discarnate    spirit. 

Miss  J.  E.  Harrison,  Prolegomena  to  the  Study  of  Greek  Religion,  1903;  E.  Rohde, 
Psyche,  Seelencult  und  Unsterblichkeitsglaube  der  Griechen*  1907;  E.  G.  Sihler, 
Testimonium  Animce,  1908;  A.  Fairbanks,  Handbook  of  Greek  Religion,  1910; 
W.  Ridgeway,  Origin  of  Tragedy,  1910;  H.  M.  Chadwick,  The  Heroic  Age,  1912;  G. 
Murray,  Four  Stages  of  Greek  Religion,  1912;  Miss  J.  E.  Harrison,  Themis,  A 
Study  of  the  Social  Origins  of  Greek  Religion;  L.  R.  Farnell,  art.  "Greek  Re- 
ligion" in  Hastings,  Enc.  Rel.  and  Eth.,  vi,  1914,  pp.  392-425;  C.  H.  Moore, 
The   Religious    Thought    of   the    Greeks,    1916. 

On  the  Romans,  see  F.  Granger,  The  Worship  of  the  Romans,  1895;  W.  W. 
Fowler,  The  Roman  Festivals  of  the  Period  of  the  Republic,  1899;  J.  B.  Carter, 
The  Religion  of  Numa,  1906;  J.  B.  Carter,  art.  "Ancestor-worship  (Roman)"  in 
Hastings,  Enc.  Rel.  and  Eth.,  i,  1908,  pp.  461-466;  W.  W.  Fowler,  The  Religious 
Experience   of  the  Roman  People,    1911. 

On  the  Celts,  see  J.  Rhys,  Celtic  Heathendom,  1888;  J.  A.  Macculloch,  The 
Religion  of  the  Ancient  Celts,  1911;  G.  Henderson,  Survivals  in  Belief  among 
the  Celts,  1911;  A.  Macbain,  Celtic  Mythology  and  Religion,   1917. 

On  the  Slavs,  see  Peter  of  Dusburg  in  Scriptores  Rerum  Prussicarum,  vol.  i; 
Joannes  Menecius,  de  sacrificiis  et  idolatria  veterum  Borussorum,  Livonum,  aliarum- 
que  vicinarum  gentium,  in  Scriptores  Rcrum  Livonicarum,  ii;  M.  Prastorius,  Deli- 
ci<B  Prussica,  oder  preussische  Schaubuhne,  ed.  W.  Pierson,  1871;  F.  S.  Krauss, 
Sitte  und  Branch  der  Sudslaven,  1885;  J.  W.  E.  Mannhardt,  Antike  Wald-und 
Feldkulte  aus  nordeuropaische  Ueberlicferung  erlautert,  1875-7,  2d  ed.  1905;  H. 
Usener,  Gbtternamen,  1896,  pp.  79-122;  L.  Leger,  La  Mythologie  Slave,  1901; 
art.  "Ancestor-worship  (Slavonic)"  in  Hastings,  Enc.  Rel.  and  Eth.  i,  1908,  pp.  466. 

On  the  Teutons,  see  E.  H.  Meyer,  Germanische  Mythologie,  1891;  P.  D. 
Chantepie  de  la  Saussaye,  The  Religion  of  the  Teutons,  1902;  F.  B.  Gummere, 
Germanic  Origins,  1892;  W.  Golther,  Handbuch  der  germanischen  Mythologie, 
1895. 


7o  SPIRITISM  m 

Thumos,  which  is  used  by  Homer  as  a  synonym  of  psuche, 
is  the  same  as  Skr.  dhumd,  Lat.  fumus,  'smoke.'  Another 
ancient  Greek  term  for  'spirit'  is  kerf  which  is  the  same 
as  ker,  'heart.'  This  is  used  because  the  heart,  as  the 
chief  receptacle  of  blood  in  the  body,  is  regarded  as  the 
seat  of  the  soul.4  In  Homer  the  collective  body  of  the 
departed  is  known  as  nekues,  'the  dead,'  or  en(f)eroi 
=  Lat.  inferi,  'those  beneath' ;  but  instead  of  these  ex- 
plicit terms  later  writers  preferred  euphemisms  such  as 
aoroi,  'the  untimely,'  or  chrestoi,  'the  beneficent.' 

In  Latin  anima  means  'breeze,  breath,  life,'  and  anima 
is  used  of  spirits  of  the  dead.  Animus  is  'soul'  and  is 
identical  with  Greek  anemos,  'wind.'  The  Latin  concep- 
tion of  the  genius  is  peculiar.  Genius  is  derived  from 
gigno,  'beget,'  and  the  marriage -bed  is  known  as  lectus 
genialis.  Every  man  has  his  genius  and  every  woman 
her  juno.  On  the  birthday  rites  of  worship  were  paid  to 
one's  genius  or  juno  as  the  case  might  be.  The  celebrant 
clad  in  white,  with  a  garland  on  his  head,  offered  incense, 
cakes  and  wine  and  prayed  for  protection  during  the 
coming  year.  Buildings,  regions,  towns,  cities,  trades, 
and  other  groups  of  men,  were  thought  to  have  their 
genii.  The  genius,  accordingly,  seems  to  have  been  a 
guardian-spirit,  who  was  born  with  a  man,  and  who 
shared  his  experiences  in  life  and  in  death.  The  concep- 
tion was  thus  similar  to  the  Egyptian  ka,  and  may  have 
been  derived  from  the  pre-Latin  inhabitants  of  Italy, 
who  probably  belonged  to  the  same  Mediterranean  race 
as  the  Egyptians.5  Spirits  of  the  dead  were  grouped 
under  the  collective  name  of  di  manes,  'kind  gods,'  a 
euphemism  designed  to  avoid  actual  mention  of  their 
names.  They  were  also  known  as  inferi,  'those  beneath' 
and  umbra,  'shadows,  shades.'  Apparently  the  lares 
were  guardian-spirits  of  the  hearth  and  of  the  home,  who 
were  honoured  with  domestic  rites,  and  were  originally 

*See  p.   201. 
•See  p.   155. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS    71 

the  ancestors  of  the  family  who  watched  over  its  in- 
terests. Etymologically  the  word  is  connected  with  larva, 
'ghost,'  and  with  larentalia,  the  festival  of  the  dead. 

The  Celts  of  Gaul,  according  to  Augustine,6  and  Isi- 
dore,7 called  spirits  of  the  dead  dusii.  The  word  is  con- 
nected with  Lith.  dwase,  'breath'  'spirit,'  and  diisas, 
'vapour,'  and  with  Old  Slav,  duchu,  'breath,'  'spirit,' 
and  dusa,  'soul.'  In  the  same  series  probably  belongs  Gr. 
theos,  'god,'  from  an  original  th(f)esos. 

Among  the  Slavs  the  peasants  of  Great  Russia  speak 
of  the  dead  as  roditeli,  'parents,'  and  those  of  White 
Russia  as  dzjady,  'grandfather.'  These  terms  are  ap- 
plied to  deceased  relatives  of  both  sexes  and  even  to 
children.     They  correspond  to  the  Sanskrit  pitdras. 

The  Goths,  according  to  Jordanis  (chap.  13),  called 
their  deified  ancestors  arises.  This  is  probably  connected 
with  Skr.  dsu,  'breath,'  life,'  and  with  Skr.  dsura  and 
Avest.  ahura,  'god,'  'lord,'  which  appears  in  Ahura- 
mazda,  the  supreme  God  of  the  Avesta.  The  Norse 
equivalent  asen  denoted  the  highest  gods  of  the  pantheon. 
On  the  other  hand,  in  Ang.  Sax.  the  word  ese  was  de- 
graded to  mean  'elves.'  The  Norse  word  for  'soul'  is 
fylgja,  'follower.'  It  is  evidently  developed  out  of  the 
shadow  which  follows  a  man,  and  it  corresponds  to  the 
Latin  umbra.  Our  word  soul,  German  Seele,  probably 
means  'lively,'  'active,'  like  the  Skr.  mdnas.  Our  word 
ghost,  German  Geist,  'spirit,'  as  in  Old  English  and  in 
the  combination  Holy  Ghost,  is  etymologically  connected 
with  gust. 

These  names  show  that  the  primitive  Indo-Europeans 
did  not  conceive  the  spirits  of  the  dead  as  immaterial, 
but  as  having  an  ethereal  substance  like  the  living  body. 
This  view  is  confirmed  by  narratives  of  the  appearances 
of  ghosts.     In  all  cases  they  have  shadowv  or  vaporous 

*  Civ,   Dei,   xv.   23. 

''Lib.  Etymol.  viii.  11,  103. 


72  SPIRITISM  in 

forms  that  resemble  those  in  which  they  appeared  on 
earth. 

d.  Powers  Retained  by  the  Dead. — The  future  life 
was  conceived  by  the  Indo-Europeans  as  essentially  sim- 
ilar to  the  present  life.  The  dead  dwelt  in  communities 
and  carried  on  the  same  occupations  that  they  had  fol- 
lowed on  earth.  They  still  needed  food,  clothing  and 
shelter;  and,  strange  to  say,  they  were  unable  to  provide 
these  for  themselves,  but  depended  on  the  generosity  of 
the  living.  Hence  everywhere  the  need  was  felt  for  sons 
to  keep  up  the  ancestral  cult;  and  if  there  were  no  sons, 
others  were  adopted  to  perform  their  functions. 

In  the  Rig  Veda  the  dead  still  require  food,  and  come 
back  to  their  former  homes  to  demand  it.  If  they  are 
not  fed,  they  will  vent  their  wrath  upon  their  families. 
In  the  Ramayana  sons  are  considered  necessary  in  order 
that  they  may  make  the  proper  offerings  to  the  shades  of 
their  fathers.  In  the  modern  cremation  ritual  the  Brah- 
man says:  "Unwillingly  do  the  manes  of  the  deceased 
taste  the  tears  and  rheum  shed  by  their  kinsmen;  then  do 
not  wail,  but  diligently  perform  the  obsequies  of  the 
dead."  8 

In  the  Avesta9  we  read:  "We  invoke  the  good,  the 
mighty,  the  holy  fravashis  of  the  righteous,  who  descend 
to  the  villages  at  the  time  of  the  Hamaspathmaedaya,  and 
return  thither  every  night  for  ten  nights  to  ask  for  help. 
Will  anybody  praise  us?  Will  anybody  pay  homage  to 
us?  Who  will  accept  us  among  his  own?  Who  will 
bless  us?  Who  will  receive  us  with  a  handful  of  meat, 
and  a  garment,  and  sacred  reverence?"  The  passage 
goes  on  to  say  that  the  person  who  will  fulfil  these  obli- 
gations shall  be  richly  blessed  during  the  coming  year. 
In  Greece  food  was  placed  in  graves  and  upon  them,  and 
in  some  parts  of  the  land  tubes  were  inserted  in  graves 
through  which  the  blood  of  sacrifices  could  flow  down 

8  Colebrooke,  Asiatic  Researches,  p.  245. 
•  Yasht,  xiii.  49-52. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS     73 

to  the  dead.  In  the  Odyssey  10  the  shades  eagerly  lap 
the  blood  that  Odysseus  has  poured  into  the  sacrificial 
trench,  and  he  has  to  drive  away  with  his  sword  those 
whom  he  does  not  wish  to  consult. 

On  Roman  tombstones  the  dead  beg  for  offerings. 
"Travellers  who  crown  me  and  offer  me  flowers,"  says 
Victor  Fabianus,  "may  ye  find  the  gods  propitious."  A 
little  child  asks  its  playmates  to  come  to  its  grave,  bring- 
ing cups  of  wine,  and  to  pray  that  the  earth  may  lie  light 
upon  her.  The  jus  manium,  or  dues  of  the  dead,  formed 
an  important  topic  in  early  Roman  law.  The  funda- 
mental principle  was  that  the  offerings  to  ancestors  should 
not  be  remitted:  perpetua  sacra  sunto.  Cicero11  cites 
an  ancient  law:  "Let  private  sacrifices  continue  forever," 
"Keep  sacred  the  laws  concerning  the  divine  dead."  The 
first  duty  of  an  heir  was  to  care  for  these  offerings,  and 
their  expense  constituted  a  first  lien  on  the  estate.  The 
adoption  of  an  heir  always  involved  abjuring  of  the 
ancestral  obligations  of  his  own  clan.  This  required  the 
consent  of  the  Comitia  Curiata,  and  was  not  permitted 
unless  there  were  other  persons  capable  of  carrying  on 
the  ancestral  cult  in  the  family  which  was  abandoned. 

e.  Powers  Gained  by  the  Dead. —  1.  Spirits  of  the^ 
Dead  Possess  Superhuman  Powers  of  Motion. — They 
are  capable  of  moving  at  will  with  great  rapidity  from 
place  to  place.  In  the  Avesta  12  it  is  said  that  when  the 
fravashis  are  summoned,  "they  come  flying  like  a  well- 
winged  bird."    Odysseus  says  to  the  ghost  of  Elpenor: — 

"How  earnest  thou 
Elpenor,  hither  into  these  abodes 

Of  night  and  darkness?     Thou  hast  made  more  speed, 
Although  on  foot,  than  I  in  my  good  ship."  13 

10  xi,  34ff. 

n  De  Legibus,  ii.  22. 
"  Yasht,  xiii.   70. 
18  Odyssey,  xi.   S7ff. 


74  SPIRITISM  in 

The  assumption  among  all  the  Indo-Europeans  that 
spirits  of  the  dead  can  come  when  called  to  receive  the 
offerings  that  are  made  by  the  living  presupposes  ex- 
traordinary powers  of  locomotion. 

2.  Spirits  Show  Themselves  in  Winds. — Since  they 
were  themselves  "breath"  and  "wind,"  it  was  natural 
that  they  should  reveal  themselves  in  atmospheric  phen- 
omena. In  India  and  in  Persia  "good"  and  "bad"  winds 
were  distinguished.  "Good"  winds  were  the  souls  of 
the  friendly  dead,  while  "bad"  winds  were  the  restless 
ghosts  of  those  for  whom  the  proper  funeral  rites  had 
not  been  performed.  Similarly  in  Greece  the  winds  were 
sometimes  favourable  spirits  to  whom  white  sheep  were 
sacrificed,  and  sometimes  hostile  spirits  to  whom  black 
sheep  were  offered.  The  Harpies  were  destructive  wind- 
spirits  who  wrecked  ships  and  snatched  away  men's  souls 
to  Hades.  They  were  represented  in  art  as  human- 
headed  birds,  precisely  like  the  representations  of  souls. 
Deadly  winds  were  habitually  called  by  euphemistic 
names  such  as  Euraquilo  or  Euroclydon.   Penelope  prays: 

"I  would  that  thou  wouldst  send  into  my  heart 
A  shaft  to  take  my  life,  or  that  a  storm 
Would  seize  and  hurl  me  through  the  paths  of  air, 
And  cast  me  into  Ocean's  restless  stream, 
As  once  a  storm,  descending,  swept  away 
The  daughters  born  to  Pandarus."  14 

A  Harpy  was  the  mother  by  Zephyros  of  the  horses 
of  Achilles.  Stormy  winds  were  regarded  as  troops  of 
restless  ghosts  coursing  through  the  air  with  Hekate, 
a  goddess  of  the  Underworld.15  Similar  conceptions  in 
Teutonic  mythology  are  Woden,  "the  Wind,"  the  wild 
huntsman  who  rushes  through  the  sky  with  the  host  of 
spirits  of  the  dead;  the  Valkyries,  who  correspond  to  the 
Greek  Harpies,  the  snatchers  of  souls;  and  the  "Wind- 

11  Odyssey,  xx.  6 Iff. 

10  Iliad,  xvi.  ISO;  see  Rohde,  Psyche,1  i,  72;  ii,  83f.,  264. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS    75 

bride"  of  Germanic  folk-lore  who  steals  away  the  souls 
of  men. 

3,  Spirits  Occupy  Inanimate  Objects. — Among  the 
low  caste  tribes  of  India  small  images  are  prepared  to 
receive  spirits  of  the  dead.  The  Roman  noble  kept  in 
his  atrium  the  imagines,  or  portraits  of  his  forefathers, 
which  were  originally  portrait-masks  that  covered  the 
faces  of  the  dead.  These  were  probably  fitted  on  to 
statues  or  busts,  and  at  funerals  were  worn  by  actors 
who  impersonated  the  dead.  These  masks  were  perhaps 
a  development  out  of  primitive  statues  that  were  in- 
habited by  the  spirits.  Among  the  Celts  standing  stones 
were  the  dwelling-places  not  only  of  gods  but  also  of  the 
manes,16  and  among  all  the  Indo-Europeans  the  tomb- 
stone was  felt  to  stand  in  a  peculiarly  intimate  relation 
to  the  soul  of  the  dead  so  that  offerings  were  placed  upon 
it. 

Lots  were  controlled  by  ghosts  as  well  as  by  gods,  so 
that  they  were  consulted  for  information  in  regard  to  the 
present  and  the  future.  Traces  of  this  custom  are  found 
among  all  the  Aryan  peoples,  but  in  Italy  the  institution 
attained  its  greatest  development.  The  sortes,  or  'lots' 
(from  severe,  'string'),  were  small  plates  bearing  in- 
scriptions that  were  strung  together  on  a  cord.  One  of 
these  tablets  was  drawn,  and  the  inscription  upon  it  was 
interpreted  as  an  answer  to  the  inquiry.  Such  lots  were 
found  at  various  sanctuaries,  but  the  most  famous  were 
those  at  Prameste,  which  are  described  in  detail  by 
Cicero.17  The  lots,  which  were  discovered  in  dim  an- 
tiquity, were  inscribed  on  oak  tablets,  and  were  kept  in  a 
chest  of  olive  wood.  They  were  drawn  by  a  boy.  Cicero 
carefully  distinguishes  between  lots  of  this  sort  "which  are 
endued  with  a  divine  instinct  and  afflatus,"  and  ordinary 
lots  which  are  used  in  playing  games.  The  Roman  state- 
religion  made  no  official  use  of  the  lots,  which  probably 

16  Henderson,   Survivals   in   Belief  among   the    Celts,   pp.    198ff. 

17  De  Divinatione,  ii,  41ff. 


76  SPIRITISM  m 

indicates  that  they  were  not  associated  with  the  great 
gods  of  the  state,  but  with  lesser  spirits  of  the  dead. 

4.  Spirits  Occupy  Plants  or  Animals. — Among  the 
Greeks  and  the  Romans  it  was  customary  to  plant  trees 
upon  graves,  and  it  was  thought  that  the  souls  of  the 
dead  inhabited  these  trees.  Mountain  nymphs  planted 
elms  upon  the  mound  of  Eetion.18  When  ./Eneas  up- 
rooted a  myrtle  on  the  grave  of  Polydorus,  the  tree  bled 
and  he  heard  a  voice  from  the  mound  saying:  "Why,  O 
iEneas,  do  you  hurt  wretched  me?  Spare  now  the 
buried.  Refrain  thy  reverent  hands  from  guilt."  19  Vergil 
tells  us  that  in  the  open  space  at  the  entrance  to  Orcus  a 
mighty  elm  tree  stands.  It  spreads  its  aged  branches 
with  their  deep  shadows  over  a  vast  space.  Men  say 
that  deceitful  dreams  take  up  their  abode  here,  and 
cling  to  all  the  leaves.20  Here  souls  of  the  dead  are  con- 
ceived both  as  dreams  and  as  birds,  and  they  inhabit  the 
elm.    This  is  evidently  a  fragment  of  old  Italic  folk-lore. 

The  re-incarnation  of  spirits  in  the  bodies  of  animals 
or  of  men   we   shall   consider  later   in    connection  with 
v        the  doctrine  of  metempsychosis.21 

5.  Spirits  Obsess  Living  Men. — In  India  even  the  Rig 
Veda  contains  a  strong  infusion  of  demonology,  and  the 
Atharva  Veda  is  full  of  it.  In  viii.  6  it  gives  a  lengthy 
enumeration  of  ghosts  and  goblins  of  every  sort,  among 
whom  are  restless  spirits  of  the  dead.  There  are  also 
a  number  of  exorcisms  of  evil  spirits  that  have  entered 
into  men,  for  instance,  in  ix.  8  the  bhfits,  or  'spooks,'  lurk 
everywhere,  ready  to  jump  into  men  on  the  slightest  op- 
portunity; and  when  they  have  entered  they  afflict  their 
victims  with  all  sorts  of  diseases.  In  the  Mahabharata, 
iii.  96,  we  are  told  of  a  particular  demon  called  dditeya 
that  had  the  habit  of  cooking  its  younger  brother  and 
serving  him  up  as  meat  to  saints.     After  the  saint  had 

18  Iliad,    vi.    419f. 

19  Mneid,  iii.  19-68. 

20  Ibid.,   vi.  282ff. 

21  See  p.  98. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS     77 

partaken  of  the  tempting  dish,  the  demon  called  his 
brother  who  came  out  bursting  the  saint  asunder. 

In  the  Persian  religion  of  the  Avesta  all  diseases  are 
evil  spirits  of  one  sort  or  another  that  have  entered  into 
men.  They  stand  in  the  service  of  Ahriman,  and  are 
opposed  by  Ahura  Mazda  and  the  good  spirits  who  seek 
to  deliver  men  from  their  wiles. 

In  Greece  the  host  of  Hekate  as  it  courses  through 
the  air  brings  to  men  uncleanness,  mischief,  distressing 
dreams,  nightmares,  frightful  visions,  epilepsy,  and  in- 
sanity. The  keres,  or  'ghosts,'  are  often  described  as 
bringing  diseases  to  men.  Hesiod  tells  of  a  golden  age 
when 

"Of  old  the  tribes  of  mortal  men  on  earth 
Lived  without  ills,  aloof  from  grievous  toil, 
And  catching  plagues  which  keres  give  to  men. 

The  woman  with  her  hands  took  the  great  lid 
From  off  the  cask  and  scattered  them,  and  thus 
Devised  sad  cares  for  mortals. 

For   other   myriad   evils  wandered   forth 
To  man,  the  earth  was  full,  and  full  the  sea. 
Diseases,  that  all  round  by  day  and  night 
Bring  ills  to  mortals,  hovered,  self-impelled, 
Silent,  for  Zeus,  the  Counsellor,  their  voice 
Had  taken  away."  22 

Pandora  is  the  earth-goddess,  and  the  cask  which  she 
opens  is  the  pithos,  or  jar,  in  which  the  ancient  Greeks 
were  buried,  from  which  spirits  of  the  dead  emerge.  In 
a  vase-painting  Hermes,  leader  of  souls,  is  represented 
as  opening  such  a  pithos,  from  which  the  keres  emerge  as 
little  winged  figures.  Plato  says,23  "There  are  many 
fair  things  in  the  life  of  mortals,  but  in  most  of  them 
there  are  as  it  were  adherent  keres  which  pollute  and 
disfigure  them."     As  prophylactic  measures  against  the 

22  Hesiod,    Works  and  Days,   90S. 
**Laws,  xi.  937. 


78  SPIRITISM  m 

keres,  pitch  was  spread  on  doors  to  catch  them  as  they 
tried  to  flutter  in,  and  buckthorn  was  chewed  so  as  to 
expel  them  by  its  cathartic  qualities.  The  gods  were 
invoked  for  protection  against  their  ravages.  Thus  in 
an  Orphic  hymn  to  Herakles  we  read: — 

"Come,  blessed  hero,  come  and  bring  allayments 
Of  all  diseases.     Brandishing  thy  club, 
Drive  forth  the  baleful  fates;  with  poisoned  shafts 
Banish  the  noisome  keres  far  away."  24 

In  general  the  dead  are  regarded  as  hostile  to  the 
living,  jealous  of  their  health  and  well-being,  and  anxious 
to  bring  others  into  the  same  condition  as  themselves. 
In  the  Vedic  period  in  India  the  dead  are  more  feared 
than  loved,  and  are  believed  to  be  constantly  seeking 
new  recruits  for  the  kingdom  of  Yama.  In  Homer  the 
costly  ceremonies  of  cremation  are  designed  to  secure 
that  spirits  of  the  dead  may  descend  to  Hades  where 
they  will  no  more  trouble  the  living.  The  ghost  of 
Patroclus  says  to  Achilles:  "Nevermore  shall  I  return 
to  earth  when  once  the  fire  shall  have  consumed  me."  25 

The  Romans  believed  that  spirits  of  the  dead  wan- 
dered by  night  seeking  to  smite  the  living  with  fatal 
diseases.  The  grave-inscriptions  frequently  speak  of  the 
manes  as  having  come  to  fetch  the  living.  Thus  an 
inscription  from  Corduba  says :  "The  manes  have  taken 
Abullia."  26  At  the  festival  of  the  Compitalia  dolls  in 
human  form  were  hung  up  for  the  lares,  "that  they 
might  spare  the  living  and  be  satisfied  with  trifles  and 
images."  2T  The  chief  motive  for  sacrifice  to  the  dead 
was  the  fear  that  they  would  avenge  themselves  if  they 
were  neglected.  Ovid  tells  how  "once  upon  a  time  the 
great  feast  of  the  dead  was  not  observed,  and  the  manes 
failed  to  receive  the  customary  gifts,  the  fruit,  the  salt, 

24  See   J.   E.    Harrison,   Prolegomena,   pp.    165-175. 

25  Iliad,  xxiii.   75. 

28  Corpus  Inscriptionum  Lat.  ii.  2255. 
27  Festus,  s.  v.  pile,  ed.   Dacerius,  p.   346. 


/ 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS    79 

the  grain  steeped  in  unmixed  wine,  the  violets.  The 
injured  spirits  avenged  themselves  on  the  living,  and 
the  city  was  surrounded  with  the  funeral  fires  of  their 
victims."  28  So  fearful  were  men  that  they  had  not  per- 
formed the  rites  of  the  dead  properly  that  every  year 
before  the  reaping  of  harvest  a  sow  (porca  pracidanea) 
was  sacrificed  to  the  subterranean  deities  "by  him  who 
had  not  given  the  dead  his  due,"  lest  they  should  cause 
the  failure  of  crops.  The  manes  punished  with  special 
rigour  any  crimes  that  impaired  the  vigour  of  the  family 
because  these  interfered  with  the  regular  performance 
of  the  ancestral  rites.  A  law  ascribed  to  Romulus 
enacted  that  a  man  who  sold  his  wife  should  be  dis 
manibus  sacer,  "devoted  to  the  divine  shades."  The 
reason  for  this  was  that  he  would  have  no  children  to 
keep  up  the  ancestral  rites.  A  child  who  struck  his 
parent,  or  the  violator  of  a  grave,  was  also  given  over 
to  the  dead.29  The  manes  punished  with  death  all 
breaches  of  the  mos  maiorum,  "the  tradition  of  the 
elders."  When  the  Potitii,  who  had  charge  of  an  ances- 
tral cult  at  the  Great  Altar,  shifted  their  responsibility 
to  the  public  slaves,  "the  whole  family  of  the  Potitii 
was  blotted  out  within  a  short  time,  and  the  vengeance 
of  heaven  was  visited  upon  the  censor  Appius,  upon 
whose  advice  they  had  acted,  for  a  few  years  after 
he  lost  his  sight."  30 

In  similar  manner  the  modern  peasants  of  White 
Russia  are  filled  with  dread  "lest  at  the  commemora- 
tion festival  any  mistake  should  be  made.  Then,  to 
speak  in  the  language  of  the  peasants,  the  feast  would 
be  no  feast.  It  would  mean  that  they  did  not  respect 
the  memory  of  the  person  in  whose  honour  the  feast 
was  instituted.  As  a  punishment  for  disrespect  for  the 
dead  there  would  follow  at  once  family  discord,  death 

*»  Fasti,  ii.  S49-SS4. 

**  Plutarch,  Romulus,  22;  Festus,  s.  v.  parici,  CIL.  x.  43SS. 

•°Livy,   ix.  29. 


80  SPIRITISM  in 

of  cattle,  failure  of  crops;  in  short,  mountains  and  hills 
would  fall  upon  the  living." 

6.  Spirits  Possess  Living  Men. — In  India  the  feed- 
ing of  Brahmans  at  funeral  feasts  and  other  rites  of 
ancestor-worship  is  regarded  as  identical  with  feeding 
the  pitaras.  Throughout  Northern  India  large  numbers 
of  Brahmans  live  exclusively  from  the  funeral  offerings. 
In  White  Russia  beggars  take  the  place  of  the  Brahmans. 
They  repeat  their  songs  and  prayers,  and  are  bountifully 
fed  in  return.  At  Roman  funerals  impersonators  were 
chosen  to  represent  the  ancestors.  They  wore  their 
death-masks  that  were  preserved  in  the  family  atrium, 
were  dressed  in  their  garments,  wore  their  insignia  of 
office,  and  sat  in  state  in  their  ivory  chairs  of  office. 
They  received  the  new-comer  into  their  company,  and 
partook  of  the  funeral  meats  that  were  laid  before 
them.  When  the  ceremony  was  over,  the  masks  were 
returned  to  their  boxes  in  the  atrium  and  continued  to 
share  in  the  life  of  the  family.31  They  bore  a  strong 
resemblance  to  the  impersonators  of  the  dead  in  China, 
and  can  be  explained  only  on  the  supposition  that  they 
were  possessed  by  ancestral  spirits.32 

Dreams  were  widely  regarded  as  due  to  possession 
by  the  dead.  In  various  parts  of  Greece  there  were 
chasms  which  were  believed  to  communicate  with  the 
Underworld,  through  which  the  shades  could  arise. 
Here  there  were  sanctuaries  at  which  dream-oracles  were 
given.  The  inquirer  offered  a  sacrifice  and  slept  within 
the  sacred  enclosure,  the  dead  then  appeared  to  him.  A 
famous  sanctuary  of  this  sort  was  at  Thesprotia.  Here 
Herodotus  records  that  Periander,  tyrant  of  Corinth, 
"consulted  the  oracle  of  the  dead  upon  the  Acheron  con- 
cerning a  pledge  which  had  been  given  him  by  a  stranger; 
and  Melissa  appeared,  but  refused  to  speak  or  to  tell 
where  the  pledge  was — she  was  chill,  she  said,  having  no 

*'  Polybius,   vi.    53. 
"  See  p.  28. 


\ 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS    8 1 

clothes;  the  garments  buried  with  her  were  of  no  man- 
ner of  use,  since  they  had  not  been  burnt."  Periander 
then  stripped  the  women  of  Corinth  of  their  finest 
apparel  and  burnt  the  clothes  in  a  pit.  "This  done,  he 
sent  a  second  time  to  the  oracle,  and  Melissa's  ghost  told 
him  where  he  would  find  the  stranger's  pledge."  33  There 
was  a  similar  oracle  at  Phigalia  in  Arcadia.34 

The  soul  of  Patroclus  appears  to  Achilles  in  a  dream.35 
Penelope  says: — 

"Of  dreams,  O  stranger,  some  are  meaningless 
And   idle,    and   can   never   be    fulfilled. 
Two  portals  are  there  for  their  shadowy  shapes, 
Of  ivory  one,  and  one  of  horn.     The  dreams 
That  come  through  the  carved  ivory  deceive 
With  promises  that  never  are  made  good; 
But  those  that  pass  the  doors  of  polished  horn, 
And  are  beheld  of  men,  are  ever  true."  36 

This  is  imitated  by  Vergil 37  at  the  end  of  his  descrip- 
tion of  Hades:  "There  are  twin  gates  of  Sleep,  whereof 
the  one  is  said  to  be  of  horn.  By  this  an  easy  exit  is 
afforded  to  the  true  shades.  Another  gleams  with  the 
polish  of  dazzling  ivory.  By  it  the  manes  send  false 
dreams  to  heaven."  The  meaning  is  that  dreams  which 
come  through  the  gate  of  ivory  (the  teeth),  that  is, 
which  one  hears,  are  less  reliable  than  those  which  come 
through  the  gate  of  horn  (the  cornea  of  the  eye),  that 
is,  which  one  sees.  Both  passages  connect  dreams  with 
spirits  of  the  dead.  In  this  connection  mention  should 
be  made  of  the  passage  in  Vergil  cited  above  in  which 
dreams  are  compared  to  birds  that  roost  in  the  elm 
tree  at  the  gate  of  Hades.38 

Tertullian   records  that   among  the   Celts   those   who 

83  Herodotus,   v.    92;    Pausanias,    ix.    30,    3. 
84Pausanias,     iii.     17,    8f. 

85  Iliad,    xxiii,    6Sff. 

86  Odyssey,  xix,  SS9ff. 

87  Mneid,   vi.    893ff. 

88  See  p.  76. 


82  SPIRITISM  m 

sought  hidden  knowledge  slept  on  graves,  hoping  to  be 
inspired  by  the  spirits  of  the  dead.39 

A  higher  form  of  spirit-possession  is  that  in  which  a 
man's  mind  is  controlled  by  the  indwelling  spirit  so  that 
he  becomes  a  medium  through  whom  the  thought  and 
the  will  of  the  spirit  are  communicated.  This  is  akin 
to  the  inspiration  of  prophets  by  the  gods.  The  phe- 
nomena of  telepathy  and  telesthesia,  of  mind-reading 
and  foreboding,  of  hypnotism  and  divided  personality, 
were  explained  by  all  the  Indo-Europeans  as  due  partly 
to  possession  by  gods  and  partly  to  possession  by  spirits 
of  the  dead. 

The  following  instances  of  mediumship  in  India  are 
given  by  W.  Crooke : 40  "A  man  enters  with  his  legs 
girt  with  bells,  the  music  of  which  is  supposed  to  scare 
away  the  malevolent  spirits  which  are  present  at 
the  time  of  a  death.  He  advances  with  short  steps, 
rolling  his  eyes  and  staggering  to  and  fro,  sawing 
the  air  with  two  short  sticks  which  he  holds  in  his 
hands,  and  thus  works  himself  into  a  frenzied  state 
of  inspiration,  while  the  mourners  wail  and  ask  why 
the  dead  has  been  taken  from  them.  Presently  a  con- 
vulsive shiver  attacks  the  medium,  who  staggers  more 
violently,  and  at  last  falls  to  the  ground.  He  tries  to 
support  himself  by  holding  one  of  the  poles  of  the  funeral 
shed,  when  he  gasps  out  disjointed  sentences  which  are 
taken  to  be  the  voice  of  the  god."  "A  girl  becomes  pos- 
sessed by  the  spirit,  and  talks  and  acts,  it  is  said,  just 
like  the  person  who  has  lately  died,  calling  the  children, 
relatives,  and  friends  by  name,  and  giving  commands  for 
the  future  conduct  of  the  surviving  members  of  the 
family.  After  this  the  spirit  is  severed  from  earthly 
trammels  and  attains  heavenly  bliss." 

In  Greece  we  have  a  case  of  spirit-possession  in  the 
second-sight  of  Theoklymenos : — 

33  De  Anima,   57. 

40  Hastings,   Encyclopaedia  of  Religion   and  Ethics,   x.    130. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS    83 

"Then  spake  the  godlike  Theoklymenos : — 
'Unhappy  men !  what  may  this  evil  be 
That  overtakes  you?     Every  brow  and  face 
And  each  one's  lower  limbs  are  wrapped  in  night, 
And  moans  arise,  and  tears  are  on  your  cheeks. 
The  walls  and  all  the  graceful  cornices 
Between  the  pillars  are  bedropped  with  blood, 
The  portico  is  full,  these  halls  are  full 
Of  shadows,  hastening  down  to  Erebus 
Amid  the  gloom.     The  sun  is  blotted  out 
From  heaven,  and  fearful  darkness  covers  all.'  "  41 

The  Pythia  at  Delphi  received  her  inspiration  in  his- 
toric times  from  Apollo;  but  Apollo  had  dispossessed  an 
earlier  serpent-god,  and  the  Pythia  became  ecstatic  by 
inhaling  a  vapour  that  rose  through  a  fissure  in  the  earth. 
Evidently  she  was  originally  possessed  by  a  chthonic 
deity.  Lucan  42  tells  how  the  god  penetrated  her  body 
and  forced  her  to  yield  to  his  guidance,  how  she  shook 
the  sacred  garlands  from  her  head  and  overturned  the 
vessels  of  the  temple  in  her  efforts  to  escape  the  divine 
afflatus,  how  finally  she  succumbed  and  uttered  words 
that  were  not  her  own  but  those  of  the  god  who  con- 
trolled her. 

The  Sibyls  of  Italy  seem  to  have  been  similar  mediums 
through  whom  the  dead  communicated  with  the  living. 
In  the  iEneid  Vergil  represents  the  Cumaean  Sibyl  as 
conducting  iEneas  into  the  Underworld.  She  lives  in  a 
cave,  and  near  by  is  Lake  Avernus,  the  entrance  to 
Hades.  Vergil  describes  her  ecstasy:  "Even  as  she 
spoke  neither  her  features  nor  her  complexion  remained 
the  same,  nor  was  her  hair  confined  within  its  braid;  her 
bosom  heaved,  and  her  wild  heart  was  swollen  with 
frenzy;  her  stature  was  larger  to  the  sight,  her  voice  no 
longer  human :  so  soon  was  she  inspired  by  the  breath  of 
the  god  as  it  came  ever  nearer.  ...  At  length,  no  longer 
submitting    herself    to    Phoebus,    the    prophetess    rages 

«"  Odyssey,   xx.   351ff. 
«V.    161ff. 


84  SPIRITISM  in 

furiously  in  her  cavern,  if  so  be  that  she  may  succeed 
in  flinging  off  the  mighty  god  from  her  bosom.  All  the 
more  he  plies  her  frenzied  mouth,  subduing  her  wild 
heart,  and  fashions  her  to  his  will  by  constraint."  Here, 
in  imitation  of  the  Pythia,  the  Sibyl  receives  her  inspira- 
tion from  Apollo,  but  it  is  evident  that  originally  she 
was  conceived  as  a  spirit-medium.43 

This  Cumaean  Sibyl  was  the  reputed  author  of  the 
famous  Sibylline  Books  in  which  her  ecstatic  predictive 
utterances  were  collected.  According  to  the  legend,  she 
offered  nine  books  for  sale  to  King  Tarquinius  Priscus. 
When  the  King  refused  her  price,  she  burnt  three  of 
the  books,  and  still  asked  the  same  price  for  the  re- 
mainder. When  he  refused  once  more,  she  burnt  three 
more  books,  and  continued  to  demand  the  same  price. 
The  King  now  became  alarmed,  and  bought  the  remain- 
ing three  at  the  full  price.  These  books  were  kept  in 
the  temple  on  the  Capitoline  Hill,  and  were  consulted 
in  all  times  of  national  crisis. 

Among  the  Celts  mediums  possessing  the  power  of 
second-sight  have  existed  from  the  earliest  times  down 
to  the  present.  "A  great  obnubilation  was  conjured 
up  for  the  bard  so  that  he  slept  a  heavy  sleep,  and  things 
magic-begotten  were  shown  him  to  enunciate,  apparently 
in  his  sleep.  This  was  called  "illumination  by  rhymes," 
and  a  similar  method  was  used  in  Wales.  When  con- 
sulted, the  seer  roared  violently  until  he  was  beside  him- 
self, and  out  of  his  ravings  the  desired  information  was 
gathered.  When  aroused  from  this  ecstatic  condition, 
he  had  no  remembrance  of  what  he  had  uttered.  Giral- 
dus  reports  this,  and  thinks,  with  the  modern  spiritualist, 
that  the  utterance  was  caused  by  spirits.  The  resem- 
blance to  modern  trance-utterance  and  to  similar  methods 
used  by  savages  is  remarkable,  and  psychological  science 

«  Mneid,  vi.  45ff. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS    85 

sees  in  it  the  promptings  of  the  subliminal  self  in 
sleep."  44 

Among  the  Teutons  we  find  trolls,  witches  and  wise 
women,  all  of  whom  were  mediums  controlled  by  spirits. 
They  worked  themselves  up  into  the  hypnotic  trance  by 
incantations,  and  then  either  fared  forth  on  the  wings 
of  the  storm  to  visit  distant  places,  or  were  inspired 
to  reveal  hidden  things  and  to  predict  the  future.  The 
Norse  Volves  were  professional  mediums  who  enjoyed 
high  esteem.  They  had  magic  chairs,  magic  wands,  and 
a  company  of  boys  and  girls  who  chanted  the  songs  that 
induced  the  prophetic  trance.  In  the  winter  season  when 
the  spirits  were  abroad  they  journeyed  from  farm  to 
farm  in  pursuit  of  their  art,  and  were  everywhere  hos- 
pitably received. 

7.  Spirits  Appear  to  Men  in  Bodily  Form. — Appari- 
tions of  the  dead  to  the  living  are  well  known  in  all 
parts  of  the  Indo-European  world.  This  happens  fre- 
quently, though  not  necessarily,  in  the  presence  of  a 
medium  who  has  the  power  of  "materialising"  spirits. 
Such  ghosts  belong  as  a  rule  to  three  main  classes:  first, 
those  who  have  died  untimely  deaths,  namely  miscar- 
riages, children  that  have  died  in  infancy,  youths  and 
maidens  who  have  died  unmarried,  married  persons  who 
have  died  without  children,  and  women  who  have  died 
in  childbirth;  second,  those  who  have  died  violent  deaths, 
namely  the  murdered,  suicides,  and  those  who  have  fallen 
in  battle;  third,  those  who  have  not  received  funeral  rites, 
or  have  not  received  the  proper  rites.  All  these  troubled 
spirits  fail  to  enter  the  Underworld  in  peace,  are  envious 
of  the  living,  and  are  likely  to  appear  and  make  demands 
upon  them.45 

In  India  these  three  classes  are  known  as  preta,  from 
the  root  pre,  'depart,' ;  bhfita,  'demon' ;  and  pisdcha,  'flesh- 

44  Macculoch,  Religion   of  the  Ancient  Celts,   p.   249. 
46  On  the  unburied  see  above,  pp.  8,  36. 


86  SPIRITISM  m 

eater.'  They  appear  in  the  forms  that  they  wore  on 
earth,  or  with  small,  thick,  red  bodies  and  horrible 
faces  with  lions'  teeth.  They  come  to  blows  with  men, 
and  carry  them  off  to  remote  places.  They  assault 
women,  and  women  are  reported  to  have  become  with 
child  by  them.  They  operate  chiefly  at  night,  but  noon 
is  also  a  dangerous  time,  when  women  especially  should 
not  go  about  unprotected.  They  speak  a  "goblin  speech," 
which  is  a  sort  of  gibberish  uttered  in  a  high  nasal  tone.46 

In  Persia  such  unhappy  spirits  are  classed  under  the 
general  name  daiva,  which  includes  evil  spirits  of  all 
sorts  that  are  in  the  service  of  Ahriman.  Etymologically 
the  word  is  identical  with  Sanskrit  diva,  'god,'  and  Latin 
dlvus,  'divine' ;  but  in  the  Zoroastrian  religion  it  is  ap- 
plied only  to  evil  spirits,  just  as  in  Judaism  and  Chris- 
tianity the  gods  of  the  ancient  world  have  been  degraded 
to  the  position  of  devils.  Among  the  daevas  must  be 
included  spirits  of  the  dead,  since  they  love  foulness  and 
decay  and  are  specially  numerous  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
dakhmas,  or  towers  of  silence,  where  corpses  are  exposed. 
They  appear  in  human  form,  they  come  at  night,  and 
they  vanish  at  the  rising  of  the  sun.47 

In  Greece  the  three  main  classes  of  appearing  ghosts 
were  known  as  doroi,  'the  untimely,'  that  is,  those  who 
had  met  untimely  deaths;  biothdnatoi,  those  who  had 
met  violent  deaths;  and  dtaphoi,  'the  unburied.'  In  the 
eleventh  book  of  the  Odyssey  all  the  ghosts  who  appear 
to  Odysseus  have  met  untimely  or  unhappy  ends. 

"Souls  of  the  dead  from  Erebus — young  wives 
And  maids  unwedded,  men  worn  out  with  years 
And  toil,  and  virgins  of  a  tender  age 
In  their  new  grief,  and  many  a  warrior  slain 
In  battle,  mangled  by  the  spear,  and  clad 
In  bloody  armour,  who  about  the  trench 
Flitted  on  every  side,  now  here,  now  there, 
With  gibbering  cries,  and  I  grew  pale  with  fear." 

**  E.  Thurston,  Castes  and  Tribes  of  Southern  India,  vL  p.  230. 
41  Yasna,  ix.   IS;   Yasht,  vi.  3f. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS    87 

These  ghosts  appeared  in  the  same  forms  in  which 
Odysseus  had  known  them  on  earth,  and  spoke  with 
audible  voices,  but  they  were  inaccessible  to  the  sense  of 
touch. 

The  Erinyes  were  originally  the  souls  of  the  murdered 
who  demanded  vengeance.  Althaea  summons  the  Erinyes 
out  of  Hades  to  avenge  the  death  of  her  brothers.48  In 
/Eschylus  40  we  read:  "CEdipus'  holy  shade,  black 
Erinys,  verily  mighty  art  thou."  Io,  maddened  by  the 
apparition  of  earth-born  Argus,  cries: 

"O  horror!  he  is  coming,  coming  nigh, 
Dead,  with  his  wandering  eye. 
Uprising  from  the   dead, 
He  drives  me  famished 
Along  the  shingled  main."  50 

In  the  Eumenides,  46ft.,  the  priestess  describes  these 
spectres  of  the  slain  that  she  has  seen  in  the  temple : — 

"Fronting  the  man  I  saw  a  wondrous  band 
Of  women,  sleeping  on  the  seats.     But  no! 
No  women  these,  but  Gorgons — yet  methinks 
I  may  not  liken  them  to  Gorgon-shapes. 
Once  on  a  time  I  saw  those  pictured  things 
That  snatch  at  Phineus'  feast,  but  these,  but  these 
Are  wingless — black,  foul  utterly.     They  snore, 
Breathing  out  noisome  breath.     From  out  their  eyes 
They  ooze   a  loathy  rheum."  51 

A  more  horrible  conception  of  the  ghosts  of  the  mur- 
dered, worse  than  Gorgons,  and  worse  than  Harpies, 
which  are  themselves  spirits  of  the  dead,  could  hardly  be 
imagined. 

There  are  many  allusions  in  Greek  literature  to  ap- 
pearances   of    ghosts,    particularly    in    connection    with 

"Iliad,  ix.   571ff. 

49  Seven  against  Thebes,   988. 

80  Prometheus   Bound,    566ff. 

81  See  J.  E.  Harrison,  Prolegomena,  pp.  213-232. 


88  SPIRITISM  m 

necromancy,  or  the  calling  up  of  the  dead.52  Lucian  in 
his  Philopseudes,  or  'Liar,'  gives  a  rich  collection  of 
stories  of  this  sort.  It  is  satire,  of  course,  still  it  reflects 
popular  beliefs  on  the  subject.  Pliny  53  tells  perhaps  the 
best  Greek  ghost-story  that  has  come  down  to  us.  In 
Athens  there  was  a  haunted  house,  where  rattling  of 
chains  was  heard,  and  where  the  ghost  of  an  old  man 
appeared  with  chains  on  his  wrists  which  he  kept  shaking. 
People  who  tried  to  live  in  the  house  died  from  fright, 
and  nobody  was  willing  to  hire  the  place.  Finally  the 
philosopher  Athenodorus,  attracted  by  the  cheapness  of 
the  rent,  and  by  a  love  of  psychical  research,  took  the 
place  and  settled  down  in  his  study  to  await  develop- 
ments. He  heard  the  rattling  of  the  chains,  and  finally 
the  ghost  appeared  to  him  and  beckoned  him  to  follow. 
The  philosopher,  with  extraordinary  presence  of  mind 
under  the  circumstances,  followed  the  phantom  into  the 
yard  where  it  suddenly  vanished.  He  made  a  heap  of 
leaves  at  the  spot  where  it  had  disappeared,  and  the 
next  day  reported  the  matter  to  the  magistrates  and  had 
the  place  dug  up.  A  skeleton  was  discovered  bound  in 
chains;  and  when  this  had  been  freed  and  properly 
buried,  the  ghost  no  more  appeared  in  the  house. 

Roman  ideas  about  ghosts  were  similar  to  those  of 
the  Greeks.  Souls  of  the  unhappy  dead  were  apt  to 
appear  to  the  living.  After  the  murder  of  the  mad 
Emperor  Gaius  his  corpse  was  only  half-burned  and  half- 
buried.  The  Lamian  villa  where  the  tragedy  had  oc- 
curred was  haunted  by  his  ghost,  and  every  night  there 
were  dreadful  sights  and  sounds  until  the  house  was 
burned.54  Nero,  after  the  assassination  of  his  mother 
Agrippina,  could  not  sleep  because  of  her  phantom  that 
appeared  to  him.  From  the  surrounding  hills  the  sound 
of  a  trumpet  was  heard  and  wailings  from  Agrippina's 

«2  See  p.  151. 

08  Epistles,  vii.  27. 

•*  Suetonius,  Gaius,  59. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS    89 

grave.55  On  the  night  when  Galba  was  assassinated, 
Otho  started  up  from  his  bed  with  groans,  and  was  found 
lying  in  a  swoon  on  the  ground.56  Ovid  57  threatens  to 
haunt  his  enemy  after  death:  "However  death  may 
come  to  me,  I  will  strive  to  break  from  the  borders  of 
the  river  of  Hades,  and  in  vengeance  I  will  lay  my  cold 
hands  on  your  brow.  Waking,  you  shall  look  upon  me; 
in  the  still  shadow  of  night  I  will  seem  to  come  and 
shatter  your  slumbers.  Whatever  you  do,  I  will  fly 
before  you  in  your  sight.  I  will  raise  my  lament.  You 
shall  not  find  rest  anywhere.  Knotted  lashes  shall  sound 
in  your  ears.  Torches  entwined  with  snakes  shall  always 
smoke  before  your  guilty  countenance.  You  shall  be 
driven  on  by  the  furies  in  life  and  in  death,  for  life  is 
too  short  for  your  chastisement." 

Roman  ghosts  appeared  mostly  at  night.  Propertius 
represents  them  as  saying:  "At  night  we  wander  far 
and  wide,  for  night  frees  the  shades  from  their  prison. 
Our  laws  compel  us  to  return  to  the  Lake  of  Forgetful- 
ness  by  daybreak."  They  also  appeared  occasionally  at 
noon-time  when  the  intense  summer  heat  drove  men  off 
of  the  streets  to  take  their  siestas  in  their  homes.  Thus 
the  phantom  of  a  woman  appeared  at  noon  in  an  African 
town  to  Curtius  Rufus  informing  him  that  he  should 
return  to  the  province  as  pro-consul.58  It  was  dangerous 
to  see  ghosts,  as  this  often  foreboded  death,  but  fortu- 
nately the  spirits  avoided  being  seen  by  men  quite  as 
much  as  men  avoided  looking  upon  them. 

Among  the  Celts  the  realistic  conception  of  a  bodily 
existence  in  the  other  world  made  it  easy  to  believe  that 
the  dead  could  manifest  themselves  to  the  living.  Such 
apparitions  could  hardly  be  called  ghosts  since  they  were 
clothed  in  flesh  and  blood  and  looked  the  same  as  when 

"  Tacitus,  Annals,  xiv.   10. 
M  Suetonius,   Otho,   7. 
m  Ibis,   151ff. 
88  Tacitus,  Annals,   xi.   21. 


9o 


SPIRITISM  in 


\ 


they  were  alive  on  earth.59  Celtic  literature  is  full  of 
accounts  of  manifestations  in  which  the  living  are  un- 
conscious that  they  are  talking  with  the  dead.  The 
Classical  writers  mention  a  class  of  Celtic  spirits  of  the 
dead  called  dusii  (cf.  Gr.  &e6s)  who  were  so  corporeal 
that  they  entered  into  marital  relations  with  men  and 
women  as  incubi  and  succubi.60 

Teutonic  conceptions  of  ghosts  are  so  familiar  to  us 
from  our  English  folk-lore  that  they  require  no  special 
elaboration  in  this  connection. 

8.  Spirits  of  the  Dead  Possess  Superhuman  Knowl- 
edge.— They  are  far  wiser  than  mortals.  They  know 
what  is  taking  place  on  earth  among  their  relatives. 
They  know  when  offerings  are  prepared  for  them  and 
when  they  are  invoked  to  be  present.  They  know  the 
prayers  that  are  addressed  to  them  by  their  descendants. 
They  also  know  the  future.  In  Homer  all  the  ghosts 
who  appear  to  the  living  deliver  prophetic  oracles.  The 
entire  eleventh  book  of  the  Odyssey  is  devoted  to  the 
predictions  which  the  shades  make  to  Odysseus.  In  all 
parts  of  the  Indo-European  world  the  dead  exercise  the 
same  oracular  functions. 

9.  Spirits  of  the  Dead  Are  Able  to  Bless  the  Living. 
— Although  the  dead  are  dangerous  when  angry,  yet 
when  properly  appeased,  they  reward  their  filial  descend- 
ants. The  Vedas  frequently  speak  of  the  "fathers"  as 
blessing  their  posterity.  In  connection  with  the  offering 
of  food  to  ancestors  in  India  the  sacrificer  prays: 
"Honour,  pitaras,  for  your  comfort,  honour  for  your 
living  sap,  honour  for  your  living  power,  honour  for  your 
gentleness,  honour  for  your  life,  honour  for  your  vigour, 
Svahd  to  you,  honour  to  you,  pitaras,  honour!  This 
water  is  yours,  pitaras,  this  is  our  and  your  life-bringing 
element;  may  we  who  are  here  be  quickened."  The 
husband  then  gives  the  sacrificial  cake  to  his  wife   to 

••  See  pp.  4f.,  32f. 

00  Augustine,  de  Civ.  Dei,  xv,  23;  Isidore  Lib.  Etymol.  viii.,  11,  103. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS    91 

eat,  saying,  "Give  me  a  male  child,  pitaras,"  and  the  wife 
replies,  "Insert  fruit  in  me,  pitaras,  a  lotus-wreathed  boy, 
that  he  may  be  uninjured." 

In  Persia  the  fravashis  took  such  a  keen  interest  in 
the  welfare  of  their  descendants  that  in  time  of  drought 
they  hurried  to  the  heavenly  lake  Vourukasha  and  fought 
with  one  another  for  water,  "each  for  his  own  family, 
his  own  village,  his  own  tribe,  his  own  country."  61 

In  Greece  the  bride  before  leaving  her  home  sacri- 
ficed to  her  ancestors  in  order  to  secure  fertility  and  a 
blessing  upon  her  home.62 

/.  Powers  Lost  by  the  Dead. — Notwithstanding  the 
resemblance  of  the  other  world  to  the  present  world, 
and  notwithstanding  the  superhuman  powers  that  were 
gained  through  death  which  raised  one  to  the  rank  of 
a  god,  the  future  life  was  regarded  by  most  of  the  Indo- 
Europeans  as  a  dim,  shadowy  existence  that  was  most 
undesirable.  The  loss  of  the  body  involved  the  loss 
of  all  the  active  powers  and  all  the  pleasures  that  made 
life  worth  living.  The  disembodied  soul  was  only  a 
feeble  reflection  of  its  former  self.  In  all  the  Indo- 
European  languages  the  soul  is  described  as  breath, 
wind,  vapour,  smoke,  shadow.  These  names  emphasize 
its  unsubstantial  character.  Accordingly,  with  the  loss 
of  the  body  one  lost  all  that  made  existence  worth  while. 
One  did  not  enter  upon  immortality  in  any  true  sense 
of  the  word,  but  only  upon  a  ghost-existence,  which  is  a 
very  different  matter.  In  Homer  the  psuche,  or  'breath,' 
is  only  an  eidolon,  or  'image,'  of  its  former  self.  It  is 
a  'smoke,'  63  or  a  'shadow,'  64  and  it  passes  like  air 
through  the  hands  of  those  who  try  to  seize  it.  For  this 
reason  the  dead  are  unhappy,  and  regard  the  humblest 
lot  on  earth  as  superior  to  the  highest  rank  among  the 

61  Avesta,   Yasha,  xiii,   64ff. 

62  See  below,  p.  137f. 
•s  Iliad,   xxiii.    100. 

84  Odyssey,  x.  495;  xi.  207;  see  p.   7. 


92  SPIRITISM  m 

shades.65  Greek  and  Latin  grave-inscriptions  take  the 
same  pessimistic  attitude  toward  the  future  life;  and 
however  much  higher  conceptions  may  have  prevailed 
in  mystic  brotherhoods  and  philosophic  circles,  these  did 
not  affect  the  primitive  beliefs  of  the  multitude. 

Among  the  Celts  alone  a  more  cheerful  conception 
prevailed.  Like  the  ancient  Egyptians,  they  seem  to  have 
conceived  of  the  dead  as  re-animating  their  bodies  in 
the  other  life,  and  therefore  as  not  leading  a  ghost- 
existence.66  Lucan,67  says  of  the  Druids:  "From  you 
we  learn  that  the  bourne  of  man's  existence  is  not  the 
silent  halls  of  Erebus;  in  another  world  the  spirit  ani- 
mates the  members.  Death,  if  your  lore  be  true,  is  but 
the  centre  of  a  long  life."  For  this  reason,  he  adds,  the 
Celtic  warriors  had  no  fear  of  death.  Valerius  Maxi- 
mus  68  records  that  they  lent  money  on  the  promise  to 
pay  it  back  in  the  next  world.  This  certainly  implies  a 
vivid  conception  of  its  reality  and  of  its  physical  char- 
acter. In  Celtic  folk-lore  the  dead  do  not  appear  as 
ghosts  but  as  living  men  of  flesh  and  blood.69  In  the 
Welsh  tale  of  Pwyll  mentioned  later,  Arawn,  King  of 
Hades,  is  able  to  take  Pwyll' s  place  for  a  year  among 
the  living.  Marriages  of  the  living  with  the  dead  are  a 
frequent  theme  of  Celtic  legends.  The  Celtic  other 
world  was  a  place  of  eating,  drinking,  fighting,  and  mak- 
ing love,  like  the  present  world  at  its  best,  so  that  it  is 
not  surprising  that  suicide  was  frequent  in  order  to  enter 
more  speedily  into  its  joys.  Diodorus  Siculus  70  records 
that  letters  were  thrown  upon  funeral  pyres  in  the  belief 
that  thus  they  were  carried  to  departed  friends. 

g.      The  Abode  of  the  Dead. — Indo-European  concep- 
tions  of  the   dwelling-place   of  departed  spirits   corres- 

86  See  p.  8f. 

86  See  p.   163. 

87  Pharsalia,    i.    45Sff. 
88 II.  6,  10. 

69  See  p.  106. 
'°V.   28. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS    93 

pond  to  the  three  methods  of  disposal  of  the  dead  that 
were  practised  by  them,  namely,  exposure,  burial  and 
cremation. 

1.  Spirits  Roam  Without  Any  Fixed  Habitation. — 
This  corresponds  to  the  primitive  custom  of  exposure  of 
corpses.  When  the  flesh  was  devoured  by  beasts  and 
birds  and  the  bones  were  scattered,  the  body  no  longer 
served  as  a  seat  of  the  soul's  activity.  The  discarnate 
spirit  had  no  abode  to  which  it  could  return,  but  "passed 
through  waterless  places,  seeking  rest  and  finding 
none."  71  Like  the  living,  the  primitive  Aryan  ghosts 
were  nomads.  This  conception  lasted  among  all  the 
Indo-Europeans  in  the  belief  that  the  unburied  or  un- 
cremated  dead  could  not  rest  but  haunted  the  living.  In 
India  and  in  Persia  spirits  for  whom  the  last  rites  had 
not  been  performed  roamed  about  and  formed  a  dan- 
gerous class  of  evil  demons.  In  the  Iliad,72  the  ghost  of 
the  unburied  Patroclus  says  to  Achilles : 

"Thou  dost  neglect  me  dead.     O,  bury  me 
Quickly,   and  give  me  entrance  through  the  gates 
Of  Hades;  for  the  souls,  the  forms  of  those 
Who  live  no  more,  repulse  me,  suffering  not 
That  I  should  join  their  company  beyond 
The  river,  and  I  now  must  wander  round 
The  spacious  portals  of  the  House  of  Death. 
Give  me  thy  hand,  I  pray;  for  never  more 
Shall  I  return  to  earth  when  once  the  fire 
Shall  have  consumed  me." 

Smiliar  conceptions  meet  us  in  Euripides,73  Sopho- 
cles,74 and  iEschylus.75  In  Homer  burial  is  refused  to 
fallen  enemies,  but  in  later  times  it  was  considered  a 
sacred  duty  to  perform  the  last  rites  even  for  foes.  The 
laws  of  Solon  enacted  that,  if  a   father  had  hired  his 

"Matt.    12:43;    Luke    11:24. 

n  Iliad,   xxiii.    71ff.,   Bryant's   translation. 

"  Hecuba,  31-50;  Troades,  1081. 

»  Antigone,   1070. 

75  Eumenides,  269ff. 


94  SPIRITISM  m 

son  out  for  vicious  purposes,  the  son  was  absolved  from 
the  obligation  to  feed  and  shelter  him,  yet  was  required 
to  perform  the  funeral  rites  for  him.  If  a  man  had  no 
relatives,  or  if  they  failed  to  perform  their  duty,  the 
head  of  his  deme  attended  to  the  interment.  Only  ex- 
ceptional sinners,  such  as  traitors,  temple-robbers,  and 
suicides,  were  refused  burial. 

Similar  ideas  existed  at  Rome.  The  shades  of  those 
who  had  been  drowned,  or  carried  off  by  beasts,  or  who 
had  not  received  proper  burial  or  cremation,  wandered 
about  without  fixed  abode  and  were  a  menace  to  the 
living.  Tertullian  76  says:  "It  was  believed  that  the 
unburied  did  not  descend  to  the  world  below  before  they 
had  received  their  due."  Consequently,  it  was  an  im- 
perative duty  of  relatives  to  care  for  their  dead;  and  if 
they  failed,  the  state  assumed  the  responsibility.  As 
Quintilian  remarks:77  "Even  upon  unknown  dead  we 
heap  earth,  and  no  one  is  ever  in  too  great  a  hurry  to 
honour  an  unburied  body  by  putting  earth,  be  it  ever  so 
little,  upon  it."  Burial  was  refused  only  to  exceptional 
criminals,  to  suicides,  and  to  those  who  had  been  struck 
by  lightning. 

Among  the  pagan  Slavs  it  was  believed  that  souls  of 
the  unburied  wandered  in  forests,  but  that  souls  of  the 
buried  travelled  by  the  beaten  road  to  the  realm  of  the 
dead. 

2.  Spirits  Occupy  the  Bodies  of  Animals. — Closely 
connected  with  exposure  of  the  dead  is  the  idea  that  their 
spirits  enter  into  the  bodies  of  various  animals.  When 
the  dead  were  devoured  by  beasts  and  by  birds,  it  was 
natural  to  think  that  their  souls  might  inhabit  these 
creatures;  thus,  alongside  of  the  idea  that  ghosts  of  the 
unburied  roam  the  earth,  we  find  at  an  early  date  the 
conception  of  re-incarnation  in  lower  forms  of  life.  The 
most  widely  spread  conception  among  the   Indo-Euro- 

78  De  Anitna,  56. 

"  Declamationes,  v.  6. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS    95 

peans  was  that  souls  entered  into  birds.  This  seems  to 
be  connected  with  the  devouring  of  corpses  by  vultures. 
In  early  Greek  art  the  soul  is  depicted  as  a  human-headed 
bird,  like  the  ba  in  Egyptian  art.78  This  is  evidently  a 
conventionalised  form  that  has  grown  out  of  an  earlier 
representation  of  a  simple  bird.  The  human-headed 
birds  lingered  in  art  as  Harpies,  Sirens  and  Erinyes, 
whose  functions  show  that  they  were  developed  out  of 
spirits  of  the  dead;  but  the  anthropomorphic  tendency 
of  later  Greek  art  caused  spirits  in  general  to  be  repre- 
sented as  winged  human  figures.79 

In  Italy  the  belief  appears  in  bird-omens  and  augury. 
In  Plautus  80  a  slave  rejoices  when  he  sees  a  woodpecker 
and  a  crow  on  his  left,  and  a  raven  and  a  screech  owl  on 
his  right.  When  the  woodpecker  begins  to  drill,  he  takes 
this  as  a  sign  of  a  beating  that  is  in  store  for  him.  When 
the  raven  is  seen  on  the  left,  and  when  it  taps  the  earth 
once  with  its  claws,  it  makes  the  heart  of  the  spectator 
leap  within  his  breast.  Bird-divination  was  a  function 
of  the  state,  and  the  art  was  in  the  hands  of  augurs  who 
belonged  to  the  patrician  order.  Birds  were  divided 
into  the  classes  of  the  'singers,'  oscines,  which  included 
the  owl,  the  crow,  and  the  raven;  and  the  'flyers,' 
prapetes,  which  included  the  larger  birds  of  prey.  Aus- 
pices were  drawn  from  the  number  and  the  positions 
in  which  these  birds  appeared  and  from  their  cries.  As 
a  rule  it  was  favourable  to  have  a  bird  appear  on  the  left 
of  the  observer.  Birds  of  prey  were  considered  most 
important,  as  was  natural,  considering  their  primitive 
connection  with  the  dead.81 

In  Celtic  folk-lore  spirits  of  the  dead  are  frequently 
represented  as  birds.  Thus  in  the  Voyage  of  Maelduin, 
an  Irish  monkish  tale,  the  terrestrial  paradise  is  described 

"See  p.  155. 

70  The    most    elaborate    discussion    of    this    subject   is    that    of    G.    Weicker    Der 
Seelenvogel  in  der  alten  Litteratur  und  Kunst,    1907. 
*°  Asinaria,  ii.  sc.  1. 
MFor  similar  Greek  ideas  see  Iliad,  xii.  200ff.;  x.  274ff. 


96  SPIRITISM  m 

as  a  place  where  the  first  forefather  lives,  surrounded  by 
the  souls  of  his  descendants  who  have  the  form  of  song- 
birds. In  the  legend  of  Saint  Maelsuthain  his  pupils 
appeared  to  him  after  death  as  birds.  In  Cornwall  King 
Arthur  is  thought  to  live  in  the  form  of  a  raven,  and  in 
Wales  the  souls  of  the  wicked  become  ravens.  In 
Brittany  souls  of  unbaptised  infants  flit  about  as  birds, 
and  in  all  Celtic  countries  the  souls  of  drowned  sailors 
or  fishermen  become  sea-gulls.  By  an  association  of 
ideas  butterflies,  moths,  and  bats  are  also  regarded  as 
spirits  of  the  dead.82 

Next  to  birds  snakes  are  most  frequently  associated 
with  spirits  of  the  dead  in  Indo-European  religions. 
The  serpent-cult  of  modern  India  is  distinctly  connected 
with  ancestor-worship.  On  Greek  tombs  snakes  are  con- 
stantly represented  as  the  embodiment  of  the  spirit  of 
the  dead.  In  the  so-called  "hero  reliefs"  a  large  bearded 
serpent  appears  behind  the  seated  hero.  In  "banquet 
reliefs"  a  serpent  appears  twisted  about  a  tree,  or  drinks 
from  a  cup  in  the  hero's  hand.  In  vase  pictures  serpents 
are  often  depicted  at  the  foot  of  burial  mounds.  The 
meaning  of  these  representations  is  clear  from  a  pas- 
sage in  Plutarch  83  who  states  that  when  Cleomenes,  King 
of  Sparta,  had  been  executed  by  Ptolemy,  King  of  Egypt, 
and  impaled  in  public,  "a  huge  snake  wound  about  the 
head  and  hid  the  face  so  that  no  bird  of  prey  should  light 
on  it.  Thereupon  a  superstitious  fear  fell  upon  the 
King,  and  such  a  dread  that  it  started  the  women  on 
purification  ceremonies."  Cecrops,  the  oldest  Athenian 
hero,  was  worshipped  originally  as  a  snake,  subsequently 
as  a  half-human,  half-serpentine  being.  Erechtheus,  his 
son,  was  also  a  snake.  Herodotus,  viii.  41,  describing 
the  Persian  invasion,  says:  "The  Athenians  say  that 
they  have  in  their  acropolis  a  huge  serpent,  which  lives 
in  the  temple,  and  is  the  guardian  of  the  whole  place. 

83  See  Macculloch,  o.  c,  pp.  360;  Henderson,  o.  c,  pp.  76S. 
M  Life  of  Cleomenes,  xxxbc. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS    97 

Nor  do  they  only  say  this,  but,  as  if  the  serpent  really 
dwelt  there,  every  month  they  lay  out  its  food,  which 
consists  of  a  honey-cake.  Up  to  this  time  the  honey-cake 
had  always  been  consumed;  but  now  it  remained  un- 
touched. So  the  priestess  told  the  people  what  had 
happened;  whereupon  they  left  Athens  the  more  readily, 
since  they  believed  that  the  goddess  had  already  aban- 
doned the  citadel."  In  like  manner  the  hero  Trophonius 
dwelt  as  a  snake  in  a  cave  at  Lebadea,  and  Asklepeios 
also  was  originally  a  snake,  and  later  was  represented 
with  a  snake  twining  about  his  staff.84 

In  Italy  serpents  were  regarded  as  the  embodiments 
of  the  spirits  of  ancestors  and  as  the  guardian-heroes  of 
places.  Pliny85  says  that  snakes  were  protected  and  fed 
in  Roman  houses.  They  became  so  numerous  that  they 
would  have  become  an  unbearable  nuisance,  but  for  the 
fires  which  frequently  consumed  parts  of  the  city.  On 
tomb-reliefs  snakes  are  represented,  as  in  Greece,  as 
embodiments  of  the  dead.  A  fresco  in  Herculaneum 
represents  a  snake  twisted  around  an  altar  and  eating 
cakes  from  the  top.  The  accompanying  inscription 
reads,  genius  Indus  loci  montis.  In  the  JEneid,  v.  84ft., 
Vergil  tells  howiEneas,  having  arrived  in  Sicily,  prepared 
to  celebrate  the  anniversary  of  his  father's  death  with 
sacrifices  and  games.  A  magnificent  serpent  appeared 
which  tasted  of  the  sacrificial  viands  and  silently  disap- 
peared beneath  a  mound.  iEneas  is  "uncertain  whether 
to  think  it  the  genius  of  the  place  or  the  familiar  spirit 
of  his  father."  86 

The  cult  of  ancestors  under  the  form  of  serpents 
among  the  pagan  Lithuanians  is  well  attested.  Menecius, 
the  authority  on  these  matters,  says:  "Moreover  the 
Lithuanians    and    the    Samagitas    keep    snakes    in    their 

84  See   Rohde,   Psyche,*   pp.    120,    133,    136,    142,    196,   242,   244;   J.    E.    Harrison, 
Themis,  chap,  viii;  Lippert,  Die  Religionen  der  euro paisc hen.  Kulturvblker,  p.  42ff. 

85  Wot.    Hist.,    xxix.    72. 

88  See  W.   Wissowa,  Religion  und  Cultus  der  Rbmer,  p.   155;   F.   Granger,   The 
Worship   of   the  Romans,   pp.    56-59. 


98  SPIRITISM  m 

houses  under  the  hearth,  or  in  a  corner  of  the  oven 
where  a  table  stands.  Reverencing  these  as  manifesta- 
tions of  spirits,  they  call  them  forth  at  a  certain  time 
of  the  year  with  prayers  to  the  sacrificial  table.  They 
come  forth  through  a  hole,  and  climbing  up  by  a  cloth, 
they  lie  on  the  table;  where,  having  tasted  the  dishes 
one  by  one,  they  descend  and  hide  themselves  in  their 
caves.  When  the  snakes  have  gone,  the  men  eat  with  joy 
all  the  dishes  that  they  have  tasted,  and  hope  that  in 
that  year  all  sorts  of  good  things  will  happen  to  them. 
If,  however,  the  snakes  do  not  come  forth  at  their 
prayers  to  partake  of  the  sacrifices,  or  do  not  taste 
of  the  dishes  that  are  placed  on  the  table,  they  believe 
that  they  will  meet  with  great  misfortune  in  the  ensuing 
year."  Lascowski  (Lasicius)  also  records:  "They 
cherish  also  as  household  gods  certain  fat  snakes  of  a 
black  colour  which  they  call  Ghwitos  (i.e.,  Lith.  gyvate, 
'serpents').  i^Eneas  Sylvius,  Pope  Pius  II  (1458-64), 
says  of  the  Lithuanians :  "They  used  to  reverence 
snakes:  each  head  of  a  family  had  a  snake  in  the  corner 
of  his  house  to  which  he  offered  food  and  sacrifice."  87 

Other  animals,  such  as  dogs,  wolves,  hares,  etc.,  appear 
as  the  embodiments  of  spirits  in  Indo-European  folk-lore, 
but  much  less  frequently  and  universally  than  birds  and 
serpents. 

Out  of  this  belief  in  re-incarnation  of  souls  in  animal 
forms  there  arose  in  a  few  parts  of  the  Indo-European 
world  the  doctrine  of  metempsychosis,  or  transmigration. 
This  is  not  yet  found  in  the  Vedas,  but  in  the  Ramayana 
it  is  stated  that  the  wicked  are  punished  by  being  reborn 
in  lower  stages  of  existence.  In  later  Brahmanism  and 
in  Buddhism  the  doctrine  is  fully  developed  that  men 
are  reborn  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  Karma,  or  retri- 
bution for  the  deeds  done  in  a  previous  existence.  All 
the  philosophic  systems  and  Buddhism  are  efforts  to  free 
the  soul  from  this  dread  necessity  of  rebirth  through 

,T  See  F.  Solmsen,  in  Usener,  Gotternamen,  p.  91,  s.v.  Gyvati. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS    99 

absorption  of  the  individual  soul  into  the  universal  as 
"the  dew-drop  slides  into  the  shining  sea." 

A  similar  movement  of  Greek  thought  begins  with 
Orphism,  a  development  of  Thracian  Dionysiac  cults, 
which  first  appears  in  the  sixth  century  B.C.  It  is  known 
to  us  chiefly  from  eight  inscribed  gold  tablets,  six  of 
which  were  found  near  Sybaris,  one  at  Rome,  and  one  in 
Crete,  which  were  deposited  in  the  tombs  of  members 
of  Orphic  brotherhoods;88  also  from  the  later  descrip- 
tions of  Empedocles  and  Plato.  From  these  sources  we 
learn  that  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  Orphism  was  the 
heavenly  origin  of  the  soul.  Each  individual  soul  once 
dwelt  in  the  celestial  regions  and  partook  of  the  divine 
nature.  Because  of  sin  in  this  first  existence  it  is  con- 
demned to  mortal  life  on  earth.  The  body  is  the 
"prison,"  or  even  the  "grave"  of  the  soul,  according  to 
Orphic  authorities.  For  ten  thousand  years  it  is  con- 
demned to  the  "circle"  or  "wheel  of  generation."  That 
is,  it  must  be  born  and  reborn  in  lower  or  higher  forms 
of  life  according  as  it  has  done  ill  or  well  in  its  previous 
existence.  One  Orphic  poet  says:  "Hitherto  I  have 
been  a  boy,  a  girl,  a  bush,  a  bird,  and  a  scaly  fish  in  the 
sea."  89  The  aim  of  Orphism  is  redemption  from  the 
"circle  of  necessity,"  that  is,  the  compulsion  to  be  reborn. 
This  is  accomplished  by  "purity"  both  moral  and  cere- 
monial. Sin  must  be  avoided,  and  at  the  same  time  one 
must  abstain  from  animal  food,  and  must  practise  a 
large  number  of  cleansing  rites.  Adherence  to  this  rule 
of  life  secures  rebirth  in  continually  higher  forms,  until 
at  last  the  soul  is  ready  to  leave  the  "circle  of  genera- 
tion" and  return  to  the  heavenly  abode  from  which  it 
fell.  During  the  intervals  between  the  various  rebirths 
the  soul  is  confined  in  Hades.  Here  the  good  are  happy, 
while  the  wicked  are  punished  with  all  sorts  of  tortures. 

Orphism   bears   so    many   points    of    resemblance   to 

w  See  J.  E.  Harrison,  Prolegomena,  pp.   573-600;   660-674. 
"Abel,    Orphica,    1885,   fr.    117. 


ioo  SPIRITISM  in 

Buddhism  in  its  doctrines  of  metempsychosis,  asceticism, 
abstinence  from  animal  food,  purgatory,  and  redemption, 
that  it  seems  highly  probable  that  it  drew  its  original 
inspiration  from  Indian  sources;  but  it  has  received  a 
characteristically  Greek  development,  and  its  belief  in 
individual  immortality  is  very  different  from  the  Buddhis- 
tic Nirvana.  The  one  is  the  product  of  Greek  individual- 
ism and  optimism;  the  other,  of  Indian  pantheism  and 
pessimism. 

A  similar  phenomenon  to  Orphism  is  seen  in  the 
Eleusinian  mysteries  that  were  celebrated  at  Eleusis  near 
Athens.  Here,  by  means  of  purificatory  rites,  initiation, 
and  the  drinking  of  some  sort  of  sacramental  cup,  the 
recipients  were  made  partakers  of  the  very  nature  of 
the  goddess,  so  that  they  were  privileged  to  see  and 
hear  sacred  mysteries  of  the  other  world,  and  were 
assured  deliverance  from  rebirth  and  a  happy  immor- 
tality. The  antiquity  of  these  rites  is  proved  by  the 
"Homeric"  Hymn  to  Demeter,  composed  as  early  as 
600  B.C.,  in  which  the  whole  Greek  world  is  invited  to 
come  to  Eleusis  for  initiation.  The  promise  of  immor- 
tality which  these  ceremonies  gave  attracted  all  the 
Greeks  who  could  afford  it,  and  subsequently  many  of 
the  Romans,  to  accept  the  invitation  of  the  poet. 

Pythagoras  (ca.  582-500  B.C.)  held  the  Orphic  doc- 
trines of  the  divine  origin  of  the  soul,  of  its  incarnation 
through  sin,  of  transmigration,  ultimate  redemption 
from  the  necessity  of  rebirth,  and  reunion  with  the  divine. 
He  founded  a  brotherhood  with  a  rigid  "way  of  life" 
which  spread  into  all  parts  of  the  Greek  world  and 
exerted  a  powerful  influence  upon  Greek  thought. 

Heraclitus  (ca.  535-475  B.C.)  seems  also  to  have 
come  under  Orphic  influence,  if  we  may  judge  from  a 
fragment 00  which  says,  "The  living  and  the  dead,  the 
waking  and  the  sleeping,  the  young  and  the  old  are  the 
same;  for  the  latter  when  they  have  changed  are  the 

90  Bywater,  Heraclite  Ephesii  Reliquiw,  LXXVIII. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS  101 

former,  and  the  former  when  they  have  changed  are  the 
latter." 

zEschylus  (525-456  B.C.)  teaches  in  the  main  the 
Homeric  doctrine  of  Hades,  but  with  the  important 
difference  that  for  him  there  are  rewards  and  punish- 
ments in  Hades.  In  this  respect  apparently  he  shows 
Orphic  influence.91 

Pindar  (522-443  B.C.)  adopts  all  the  main  features 
of  the  Orphic  theology.  He  teaches  re-incarnation,  ret- 
ribution in  Hades,  and  ultimate  deliverance  from  the 
"wheel  of  rebirth." 

Empedocles  (ca.  490-430  B.C.)  also  accepted  the 
Orphic  beliefs.  In  one  of  his  fragments  he  teaches  that 
in  the  last  rebirth  before  attaining  its  redemption  the 
soul  becomes  a  prophet,  poet,  physician,  ruler,  or  some 
other  benefactor  of  mankind.  Then  at  death  it  becomes 
a  god,  and  rises  to  the  fellowship  of  the  gods. 

Sophocles  (495-406  B.C.)  and  Euripedes  (480-406 
B.C.)  take  a  sceptical  attitude  toward  all  theories  of 
immortality;  when  they  speak  of  death,  they  use  or- 
dinarily the  old  Homeric  language;  but  Socrates  (470- 
399  B.C.)  and  his  disciple  Plato  (429-347  B.C.)  carry 
the  doctrine  of  the  future  life  to  the  highest  development 
attained  in  the  Classical  world.  They  teach  that  the  soul 
is  an  eternal,  uncreated  substance.  In  consequence  of  a 
fall  from  the  life  of  pure  reason  in  an  earlier  state  of 
existence,  it  has  been  confined  in  the  body  as  a  prison, 
where  it  is  subjected  to  the  temptations  of  the  flesh.  If 
it  resists  these,  it  passes  at  death  to  the  fellowship  of 
the  gods.  If  it  succumbs,  it  is  born  again  upon  earth. 
If  after  repeated  rebirths  it  does  not  reform,  it  is  cast 
into  Tartarus. 

Classical  writers  assert  also  that  the  doctrine  of  met- 
empsychosis existed  among  the  Celts.  Caesar92  states: 
"The  Druids  in  particular  wish  to  impress  this  on  them 

n  See  -Eschylus,  Eutnenides,  269ff.;  cf.  Supplices,  226ff.;  416-435. 
n  De  Bello  Gallico,  vi.  14. 


\ 


102  SPIRITISM  m 

that  souls  do  not  perish,  but  pass  from  one  to  another 
(ab  aliis  .  .  .  ad  alios)  after  death,  and  by  this 
chiefly  they  think  to  incite  men  to  valour,  the  fear  of 
death  being  overlooked."  Diodorus  Siculus  93  says: 
"Among  them  the  doctrine  of  Pythagoras  prevailed  that 
the  souls  of  men  were  immortal,  and  after  completing 
their  term  of  existence,  they  live  again,  the  soul  passing 
into  another  body."  Valerius  Maximus  94  adds:  "They 
would  fain  make  us  believe  that  the  souls  of  men  are 
immortal.  I  would  be  tempted  to  call  these  breeches- 
wearing  folk  fools,  if  their  doctrine  were  not  the  same 
as  that  of  the  mantle-clad  Pythagoras."  Similarly 
Lucan.95  All  these  statements  probably  go  back  to  one 
original,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  authority  that 
they  followed  was  correct.  So  far  as  native  sources  in- 
dicate, the  Celts  believed  that  spirits  entered  into  the 
bodies  of  animals,  but  had  no  developed  doctrine  of  the 
transmigration  of  souls  such  as  Pythagoras  taught.  Some 
historian  has  been  misled  by  a  superficial  resemblance  of 
the  far  more  primitive  Celtic  beliefs  to  the  ideas  of 
Greek  philosophy. 

3.  Spirits  of  the  Dead  Dwell  in  Graves. — Out  of  the 
second  main  method  of  disposing  of  the  dead  among  the 
Aryans,  namely  burial,  arose  the  widespread  idea  that 
souls  haunted  the  places  where  their  bodies  were  buried. 
According  to  this  conception,  the  ghosts  were  no  longer 
nomadic,  like  the  earliest  Aryans,  but  had  become  seden- 
tary, like  the  later  Aryans. 

Among  the  Greeks  the  members  of  a  family  were 
buried  together  outside  the  city  walls  in  order  that  they 
might  be  near  to  one  another  and  to  their  living  rela- 
tives. In  earliest  times  there  are  traces  also  of  burial 
within  houses.  Innumerable  graves  of  heroes  were  the 
seats  of  cults  in  all  parts  of  Greece.    At  graves  periodic 

*  V.  28. 
"II.  6,  10. 
"Pharsalio,  L  454-458. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS  103 

offerings  were  made  to  the  shades.  Over  the  royal 
graves  in  the  citadel  at  Mycenae  an  altar  was  placed  for 
the  reception  of  sacrifices.  The  bones  of  heroes  received 
the  greatest  reverence,  and  were  frequently  transported 
from  one  place  to  another  in  order  to  secure  the  pres- 
ence of  their  owner.  In  476  B.C.  the  Athenians  brought 
the  reputed  bones  of  Theseus  from  Scyrus  and  deposited 
them  in  the  Theseum  at  Athens.  From  that  time  on- 
ward the  spirit  of  Theseus  dwelt  in  the  Theseum.  Sim- 
ilarly in  437  B.C.  the  Athenians  under  Hagnon  brought 
the  bones  of  Rhesus  from  the  Troad  to  Amphipolis.96 

Among  the  Romans  identical  beliefs  prevailed.  In  the 
ALnead?'1  iEneas  at  the  grave  of  Polydorus  says:  "We 
lay  the  spirit  in  the  grave";  and  Horace98  says  to  Tor- 
quatus :  "We,  when  we  have  descended  whither  righteous 
^neas,  whither  Tullus  and  Ancus  have  gone,  are  but 
dust  and  shadow."  Gifts  were  placed  upon  the  graves, 
and  the  bones  of  a  victorious  general  were  scattered  in 
the  city  in  order  to  secure  the  presence  and  aid  of  his 
spirit.  The  skull  was  regarded  as  particularly  the 
seat  of  the  spirit,  hence  apparently  in  earliest  times 
it  was  preserved  in  the  home  as  a  means  of  com- 
municating with  an  ancestor.  This  is  the  origin  of  the 
os  resectum,  or  bone  cut  off  before  cremation.  Originally 
the  head  was  removed  for  preservation,  later  a  finger,  or 
some  other  part  of  the  body  was  substituted.  The  wax 
masks  of  ancestors  preserved  in  the  atrium  of  Roman 
nobles  were  probably  conventional  substitutes  for  the 
primitive  skull.99 

Among  the  Celts  also  spirits  of  the  dead  were  thought 
to  live  in  the  grave  and  to  issue  from  it  as  ghosts.  Hence 
offerings  of  food  were  placed  on  tombs,  and  national 
assemblies  were  held  at  them.  The  tomb  of  King  Cottius 
in  the  Alps  was  holy,  Irish  kings  were  crowned  at  an- 

••  Rohde,  Psyche*  p.   161. 

"III.  67. 

"Odes,  IV.  vii.  IS. 

88  Granger,    Worship   of   the   Romans,   pp.    S3ff. 


io4  SPIRITISM  m 

cestral  tumuli,  and  Irish  gods  were  frequently  associated 
with  burial  barrows.  Tertullian  10°  narrates  that  the 
Celts  went  by  night  to  the  tombs  of  great  men  to  obtain 
oracles,  so  much  did  they  believe  that  they  were  still 
living  there.  In  many  parts  of  the  Celtic  world  the  open- 
ings that  are  left  into  cairns  or  barrows  are  intended 
to  give  the  spirit  means  of  egress  and  ingress.  In  Ireland 
it  is  still  believed  that  the  spirit  of  the  one  last  buried 
has  to  watch  in  the  graveyard  until  another  is  placed 
there.101  In  the  churches  of  Brittany  "at  the  east  end 
are  the  heavy,  brightly-painted  images;  in  other  parts 
of  the  church  and  in  the  porch,  set  up  on  shelves,  each 
in  a  small  black  box  pierced  and  surmounted  by  the  cross, 
are  the  skulls  of  those  who  have  worshipped  there,  taken 
out  of  their  graves  when  their  flesh  has  perished,  and 
placed  on  high  with  their  names — Cy  est  le  Chef  de  N . — 
in  the  sight  of  their  children  when  they  come  to  pray. 
They  are  churches  of  the  dead  as  well  as  of  the  liv- 
ing." 102 

Identical  conceptions  are  found  among  the  Slavs  and 
the  Teutons.  In  one  Russian  dialect  the  cemetery  is 
called  roditelhkoje  mesto,  i.e.,  "place  of  the  ancestors," 
and  in  Norse  the  family  burial-mound  is  known  as  cetthau- 
gar,  "hill  of  the  tribe."  In  all  Teutonic  folk-lore  ghosts 
are  associated  with  graves.  In  this  respect  the  belief  of 
the  Indo-Europeans  was  the  same  as  that  of  all  other 
primitive  races. 

4.  Spirits  of  the  Dead  Dwell  in  an  Underworld. — 
Out  of  the  individual  graves  some  of  the  Indo-Europeans 
developed  the  idea  of  a  Nether  World  that  was  a  sort  of 
generalised  concept  of  the  grave.  The  same  process  is 
seen  in  the  Egyptian  Dewat  and  the  Semitic  Sheol  and  is 
found  also  among  African  and  American  tribes.103  The 
names  for  the  realm  of  the  dead  differ  in  the  various 

100  De  Anima,  21. 

101  Lady  Wilde,  Ancient  Legends  of  Ireland,  pp.  82f. 

102  Granger,   o.  c,  p.    54. 
108  See  pp.  169,  215,  240f. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS  105 

Indo-European  languages,  so  that  it  is  probable  that 
the  conception  was  developed  by  them  independently 
after  their  separation  from  the  parent  stem.  In  India 
and  Persia  the  idea  of  Hades  seems  to  have  existed 
in  early  times,  and  in  Greece  the  doctrine  of  Hades  is 
already  fully  developed  in  Homer.  The  name  £6775, 
in  Homer  aldrjs,  is  derived  from  a-fiba.  "un-seen,"  i.e.,  "the 
invisible  world."  It  is  also  personified  as  the  ruler  of 
the  Underworld.  Homer  speaks  frequently  of  this  dark 
abode  beneath  the  earth  to  which  all  spirits  of  the  dead 
descend,  and  from  which  they  come  forth  to  appear  to 
the  living  in  dreams  and  in  visions.  In  the  eleventh  book 
of  the  Odyssey  he  gives  an  elaborate  account  of  Ulysses' 
visit  to  this  region  and  his  interviews  with  its  inhabitants. 
It  is  probable  that  this  is  not  an  original  part  of  the  Epic; 
nevertheless,  it  gives  an  admirable  picture  of  early  Greek 
thought  on  this  subject.  Ulysses  sails  westward  to  the 
extreme  limit  of  the  Ocean,  the  land  of  the  Cimmerians 
who  dwell  in  eternal  cloud  and  darkness.  Here  he  finds 
the  entrance  to  Hades.  The  souls  of  the  unburied  meet 
him  first  because  they  are  unable  to  join  their  relatives 
in  the  Underworld.  Then  he  encounters  the  great  mul- 
titude of  the  buried  dead,  great  and  small,  good  and  bad, 
who  throng  the  vast  cavern.  The  punishments  of  Tityos, 
Tantalos,  and  Sisyphos  are  late  Orphic  additions.  This 
remained  the  orthodox  Greek  conception  of  the  other 
world  down  to  Christian  times. 

The  corresponding  conception  among  the  Romans  was 
Orcus,  which  etymologically  is  connected  with  Gothic 
aurahi,  'tomb.'  The  entrance  to  Orcus  was  through  a 
mundus,  i.e.,  'earth,'  or  'pit.'  In  the  center  of  every 
newly  founded  town  such  a  pit  was  dug  and  was  covered 
with  a  stone  slab.  Through  this  spirits  of  the  dead  de- 
scended into  the  nether  world,  and  through  it  they 
ascended.  Into  it  offerings  to  the  dead  were  cast  at 
stated  seasons.     Macrobius  104  says:  "When  the  mundus 

104  Saturnalia,   I.   xvi.    16-18. 


106  SPIRITISM  m 

is  open,  the  door  of  the  sad  gods  of  the  Underworld  is 
open."  The  oldest  mundus  at  Rome  was  that  on  the 
Palatine  hill.  Other  similar  trenches  that  were  estab- 
lished later  were  in  the  Forum,  the  Lacus  Curtius,  and 
the  "grave  of  Tarpeia."  All  Latin  accounts  of  Orcus 
are  so  strongly  coloured  with  features  derived  from  the 
Greek  conception  of  Hades  that  it  is  impossible  to  deter- 
mine the  primitive  Italic  idea.  Vergil's  narrative  of 
iEneas's  descent  to  the  Lower  World  in  the  sixth  book 
of  the  ALneid  is  an  imitation  of  Ulysses'  descent  in  the 
eleventh  book  of  the  Odyssey,  nevertheless,  it  doubtless 
contains  many  elements  of  old  Latin  folk-lore. 

The  Classical  writers  assume  that  Celtic  conceptions 
of  the  Underworld  are  identical  with  their  own.  Lu- 
can  105  calls  it  orbis  alius;  Valerius  Maximus  106  speaks 
of  the  dead  Celts  as  inferi;  Pomponius  Mela  107  speaks 
of  them  as  going  ad  manes;  and  Plutarch  108  represents 
Camma  as  descending  to  her  dead  husband.  There  are 
numerous  tales  in  Welsh  and  Irish  folk-lore  of  living 
men  who  descended  to  this  region  and  returned,  just  as 
Odysseus  descended  to  Hades.  According  to  the  Welsh 
story,  Pwyll,  Prince  of  Dyved,  one  day  met  a  strange 
huntsman  with  a  pack  of  curiously  spotted  hounds.  He 
proved  to  be  Arawn,  one  of  the  kings  of  Annwn,  or 
Hades.  He  offered  to  change  places  with  Pwyll  for  a 
year  in  order  that  Pwyll  might  smite  his  rival  Havgan, 
another  king  of  Hades,  whom  he  as  a  spirit  could  not 
injure.  Pwyll  accepted  the  offer,  spent  a  year  in  Hades, 
conquered  Havgan,  and  returned  to  his  own  kingdom, 
which  he  found  had  been  governed  excellently  by  Arawn 
during  his  absence,  who  had  exactly  simulated  his  ap- 
pearance, so  as  to  deceive  even  his  wife.109 

The  Slavs  called  the  subterranean  abode  of  the  dead 

™Pharsalia,    L    457ff. 
100  II.   vi.   10. 

107  III.  2,  19. 

108  Virt.  Mul.  20. 

108  Rhys,   Celtic  Heathendom,  pp.   337-360. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS  107 

Nav,  which  is  connected  with  Lettic  nave,  'dead,'  Greek 
nekus,  'dead  person,'  Gothic  nans,  'corpse.'  The  Polish 
chronicler  Dlugosz  says  that  the  pagan  Slavs  call  Pluto 
"Nya,"  and  pray  him  after  death  to  grant  them  better 
places  in  Hades. 

The  general  Teutonic  name  for  the  Underworld  was 
Hell;  Gothic,  Halya;  Norse,  Hel;  Anglo-Saxon,  Hell; 
Old  High  German,  Hella;  German,  Holle;  which  is  con- 
nected with  Gothic  and  Old  High  German  helan,  Anglo 
Saxon  helan,  German  hehlen,  and  Old  English  heal,  'to 
hide.'  It  had  thus  exactly  the  same  original  meaning  as 
Hades,  'the  invisible  world.'  Only  in  Norse  did  the 
term  come  to  be  used  also  for  the  goddess  of  the  Under- 
world. Hell  was  originally  not  the  place  of  punishment 
that  it  has  become  in  Christian  theology  as  a  result  of  its 
use  in  Biblical  versions  to  translate  the  Jewish-New 
Testament  word  Gehenna,  It  was  the  underground 
abode  of  the  dead,  good  and  bad  alike,  like  the  Greek 
Hades  and  the  Hebrew  Sheol.  The  translation  of 
Sheol  by  Hell  in  the  Old  Testament  was  originally  cor- 
rect, but  has  become  misleading  for  the  modern  mind 
through  the  confusion  of  Gehenna  and  Sheol.110 

5.  Spirits  of  the  Dead  Dwell  in  Paradise. — If  the  the- 
ory be  correct  that  cremation  was  originally  performed 
only  in  the  case  of  kings,  chieftains,  or  heroes,  and  that 
the  purpose  was  to  restore  their  spirits  to  the  gods  from 
whom  they  had  sprung;  then  there  must  have  been  from 
the  beginning  a  House  of  Lords  among  the  dead.  In 
nearly  all  branches  of  the  Indo-Germanic  race  traces  are 
found  of  a  Paradise  to  which  aristocratic  souls  go  in- 
stead of  to  the  plebeian  abode  of  Hades.  The  later  ten- 
dency everywhere  is  to  democratize  this  Paradise  and  to 
extend  its  privileges  to  an  ever  increasing  number.  This 
development  keeps  pace  with  the  granting  of  the  priv- 
ilege of  cremation  to  the  plebeians. 

In  India  the  Vedas  know  of  the  realm  of  Yama,  be- 

110  See  pp.  287ff. 


108  SPIRITISM  m 

yond  the  western  mountains.  Yama,  the  son  of  Vivas- 
vant,  was  the  first  man  (although  he  had  a  father),  who 
reigned  on  earth  in  the  Golden  Age.  "He  might  have 
lived  as  immortal,  but  he  chose  to  die,  or  rather  he  in- 
curred the  penalty  of  death,  for  under  this  choice  a  fall 
is  disguised.  He  was  the  first  to  traverse  the  road  from 
which  there  is  no  return,  tracing  it  for  future  genera- 
tions. It  is  there,  at  the  remotest  extremities  of  the 
heavens,  the  abode  of  light  and  of  the  eternal  waters, 
that  he  reigns  henceforth  in  peace  and  in  union  with 
Varuna.  There  by  the  sound  of  his  flute,  under  the 
branches  of  the  mystic  tree,  he  assembles  around  him  the 
dead  who  have  lived  nobly.  They  reach  him  in  a  crowd, 
conveyed  by  Agni,  guided  by  Pushan,  and  grimly  scanned 
as  they  pass  by  the  two  monstrous  dogs  who  are  the 
guardians  of  the  road.  Clothed  in  a  glorious  body,  and 
made  to  drink  of  the  celestial  soma,  which  renders  them 
immortal,  they  enjoy  henceforward  by  his  side  an  end- 
less felicity,  seated  at  the  same  tables  with  the  gods,  gods 
themselves,  and  adored  here  below  under  the  name  of 
Pitris,  or  fathers.  At  their  head  are,  of  course,  the  first 
sacrificers,  the  minstrels  of  other  days,  Atharvan,  the 
Angiras,  the  Kavyas,  the  Pitris  by  pre-eminence,  equal 
to  the  greatest  of  the  gods,  who  by  their  sacrifice  de- 
livered the  world  from  chaos,  gave  birth  to  the  sun,  and 
kindled  the  stars."  11X  In  the  Rig  Veda  112  the  prayer  is 
offered:  "Where  all  pleasures  and  bliss,  where  enjoy- 
ment and  gratification,  where  all  wishes  are  attained, 
there  let  me  be  immortal." 

In  Persia,  in  the  A'vesta,  Yama  appears  as  Yima  (in 
later  Persian  legend  Jemshid),  the  son  of  Vivanhant;  and 
his  sister  Yimi,  as  Yimek,  or  Yime.  At  first  he  ruled 
over  men  in  a  paradise  on  earth.  "There  a  year  is  as  a 
day,  and  there  are  lights  created  and  uncreated.     And 

1,1  Barth,   The  Religions  of  India,  pp.   22£. 
112  IX.    113,   7ff. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS  109 

once  in  forty  years  are  born  a  male  and  a  female  to  every 
couple;  and  there  men  live  the  happiest  life;  and  there  is 
neither  cold  nor  heat  nor  death."  Yima  was  unfaithful 
to  his  trust  and  died,  and  in  the  oldest  form  of  the  pre- 
Zoroastrian  Iranian  tradition  his  paradise  became  the 
abode  of  the  noble  dead. 

The  Greeks  knew  of  a  similar  abode  of  the  distin- 
guished dead  which  they  called  Elysium.  In  the  Odyssey 
Proteus,  the  prophetic  sea-god,  says  to  Menelaus: 

"  'Tis  not  decreed  that  thou  shalt  meet  thy  fate 
And  die,  most  noble  Menelaus,  where 
The  steeds  of  Argus  in  her  pastures  graze. 
The  gods  will  send  thee  to  the  Elysian  plain, 
And  to  the  end  of  earth,  the  dwelling-place 
Of  fair-haired  Rhadamanthus.     There  do  men 
Lead  easiest  lives.     No  snow,  no  bitter  cold, 
No  beating  rains,  are  there;  the  ocean-deeps 
With  murmuring  breezes  from  the  West  refresh 
The  dwellers.     Thither  shalt  thou  go:  for  thou 
Art  Helen's  spouse,  and  son-in-law  of  Jove."  113 

The  common  derivation  of  'RXixnov,  Elysium,  from  the 
root  eleuth,  'come,  arrive,'  is  unsatisfactory.  Others 
have  suggested  that  it  is  connected  with  Earu  {Aalu), 
the  Egyptian  paradise,  and  that  Rhadamanthus  equals 
Ra-Amenti,  or  Ra  (the  sun-god)  of  the  Egyptian 
Hades.114  Both  of  these  etymologies  are  most  unlikely. 
A  more  probable  explanation  is  that  of  A.  N.  Veselov- 
skij,  followed  by  O.  Schrader,  that  elusion  is  for  f elusion, 
and  is  connected  with  Lithuanian  weles,  'spirits  of  the 
dead,'  and  the  Lithuanian  goddess  of  the  dead  Vielona; 
Norse  valr,  'slain,'  and  val-holl,  Valhalla,  'hall  of  the 
slain' ;  Anglo-Saxon  wal,  'the  dead  on  the  battlefield' ;  Old 
High  German  wal,  wuol,  'slaughter.'  According  to  this, 
Elysium  was  identical  with  Valhalla,  and  was  originally 

«•  Odyssey,   iv.    560ff.,    Bryant's   translation,   iv.    7l7ff. 
"«See  p.   170. 


no 


SPIRITISM  in 


the  dwelling-place  of  the  souls  of  heroes  who  fell  in 
battle.  Thither  also  living  men  might  be  translated 
without  tasting  death. 

Pindar115  (522-443  B.C.)  gives  a  beautiful  descrip- 
tion of  the  joys  of  Elysium.  "Ever  through  nights,  and 
ever  through  days  the  same,  the  good  receive  an  un- 
laborious  life  beneath  the  sunshine.  They  vex  not  with 
might  of  hand  the  earth  or  the  waters  of  the  sea  for  food 
that  satisfieth  not,  but  among  the  honoured  gods,  such 
as  had  pleasure  in  keeping  of  oaths  enjoy  a  tearless  life; 
but  the  others  have  pain  too  fearful  to  behold.  Howbeit, 
they  who  thrice  on  either  side  of  death  have  stood  fast 
and  wholly  refrained  their  souls  from  deeds  unjust, 
journey  on  the  road  to  Zeus  to  the  tower  of  Cronus, 
where  the  ocean-breezes  blow  around  the  islands  of  the 
blest,  and  flowers  gleam  bright  with  gold,  some  on  trees 
of  glory  on  the  land,  while  others  the  water  feeds;  with 
wreaths  thereof  they  entwine  their  arms  and  crown  their 
heads."  116 

In  Italy  there  is  nothing  to  correspond  to  Elysium, 
except  in  writers  who  borrow  directly  from  Greek, 
sources.  Among  the  Celts,  however,  the  idea  is  highly 
developed.  Welsh  legends  tell  of  the  land  of  Avallon 
beyond  the  western  seas  whither  heroes  are  transported, 
and  where  they  lead  a  life  of  perfect  bliss.  Tennyson  has 
caught  the  true  spirit  of  the  Welsh  bards  when  in  the 
Passing  of  Arthur  he  describes  this  land : — 

"But  now  farewell.     I  am  going  a  long  way 
With  these  thou  seest — if  indeed  I  go 
(For  all  my  mind  is  clouded  with  a  doubt)  — 
To   the    island-valley   of   Avilion; 
Where  falls  not  rain,  or  hail,  or  any  snow, 
Nor  ever  wind  blows  loudly;  but  it  lies 
Deep-meadow'd,  happy,  fair  with  orchard  lawns 
And  bowery  hollows  crown'd  with  summer  sea, 
Where  I  will  heal  me  of  my  grievous  wound." 

116  Olympian,  ii.  61ff. 

118  Translation  of  James  Adam,  in  Religious  Teachers  of  Greece,  p.  132. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS  1 1 1 

Here  Arthur  still  lives  on,  destined  one  day  to  return 
and  deliver  his  people  from  the  rule  of  the  Saxons. 

The  Irish  stories  of  Elysium  are  of  three  sorts.  In 
one  a  fairy  from  this  land  tempts  a  mortal  to  leave  this 
world  and  join  her  in  the  Islands  of  the  Blessed.  After 
a  blissful  stay  of  hundreds  of  years  homesickness  leads 
him  to  return  to  Erin.  He  is  allowed  to  go,  but  is  bidden 
not  to  set  foot  on  the  shore.  Breaking  this  command,  he 
turns  instantly  to  ashes.  In  another  form  of  the  story 
the  hero,  like  Odysseus,  visits  the  Islands  in  quest  of  in- 
formation, or  to  recover  a  lost  wife.  He  is  ferried  over 
in  a  bronze  skiff,  the  counterpart  of  Charon's  boat  over 
the  Styx,  and  of  the  ferryman  in  Egyptian  mythology.  In 
a  third  type  of  narrative  voyagers  to  the  West  accident- 
ally discover  the  Blessed  Isles,  and  bring  back  reports  of 
what  they  saw  and  heard  there.117 

The  Teutonic  counterpart  of  these  ideas  is  Valhalla, 
'the  Hall  of  the  Slain,'  which,  as  we  saw  above,  is  per- 
haps etymologically  connected  with  Elysium.118  This  is 
Gladhsheimr,  'the  home  of  joy.'  Its  walls  and  roof  are 
built  of  shields  and  spears.  Before  its  door  a  wolf-skin 
hangs,  and  over  it  hovers  an  eagle.  Within  sits  Odhin, 
who  welcomes  most  cordially  the  one  who  has  slain  the 
greatest  number  of  enemies.  Thither  go  the  souls  of 
those  heroes  who  are  able  to  shout,  "Laughing  I  die," 
escorted  by  the  Valkyries,  who  there  wait  upon  and  serve 
them  with  beer  "immer  noch  ein's."  It  is  a  thoroughly 
Germanic,  militaristic,  and  aristocratic  paradise.  This 
region  also  lay  beyond  the  sea,  so  that  in  Scandinavia  it 
was  customary  to  ship  the  Viking  to  it  in  the  bark  with 
which  in  life  he  had  sailed  the  main. 

6.  Spirits  of  the  Dead  Dwell  in  Tartarus. — In  ancient 
Indo-European  thought  only  two  realms  of  the  dead  were 
known,  Hades  for  the  commoners,  and  Elysium  for  the 
nobles;  but   subsequently  logical  consistency  created  in 

»T  See  p.  170. 
"•  See  p.  109. 


ii2  SPIRITISM  m 

some  parts  of  the  Aryan  world  a  place  of  punishment 
for  the  conspicuously  wicked.  The  Rig  Veda  prays  al- 
ready: "Indra  and  Soma,  hurl  the  evil-doer  into  the 
prison,  into  fathomless  darkness,  whence  none  shall  come 
out  again!  So  shall  your  stern  might  constrain  them"; 
"Beneath  the  earth  shall  all  they  dwell  who  by  day  and 
night  contrive  deceit  against  us" ;  "Those  who  roam  like 
brotherless  maidens,  who  lead  an  evil  life  like  wives  that 
deceive  their  husbands,  who  are  wicked,  faithless,  false — 
such  have  prepared  for  themselves  that  deep  place."  119 
In  later  Brahmanism  and  in  Buddhism  the  doctrine  of 
Hell  had  a  great  development. 

Zoroastrian  dualism  also  developed  a  Hell  as  the 
abode  of  Ahriman,  the  Prince  of  Darkness,  and  of  all 
evil  spirits,  over  against  the  Heaven  of  Ahura  Mazda 
and  the  good  spirits;  and  the  later  parts  of  the  Avesta 
contain  elaborate  descriptions  of  the  tortures  of  this  In- 
ferno, but  this  formed  no  part  of  early  Iranian  belief. 

Homer  knows  a  place  called  Tartarus,  far  beneath  the 
lowest  depths  of  Hades,  to  which  conspicuous  sinners 
are  condemned.  Thus  Zeus  says  of  the  god  who  shall 
presume  to  break  his  command: — 

"Back  to  Olympus,  scourged  and  in  disgrace, 
Shall  he  be  brought,  or  I  will  seize  and  hurl 
The  offender  down  to  rayless  Tartarus, 
Deep,  deep  in  the  great  gulf  below  the  earth, 
With  iron  gates  and  threshold  forged  of  brass, 
As  far  beneath  the  shades  as  earth  from  heaven."  120 

The  closing  lines  of  the  eleventh  book  of  the  Odyssey 
which  describe  the  tortures  of  Tityus,  Tantalus,  and 
Sisyphus  are,  as  remarked  above,  probably  an  Orphic 
interpolation.  Hesiod,  like  Homer,  knows  Elysium  for 
a  few  great  heroes  of  antiquity,  Tartarus  for  a  few  speci- 
ally heinous  sinners,  and  Hades  for  the  vast  majority 

"•  Moore,  Religions,  p.  268. 
»  Iliad,  viii.   13ff. 


in     SPIRITISM  AMONG  INDO-EUROPEANS  1 13 

of  men.  Orphism,  probably  in  dependence  upon  Ori- 
ental thought,  greatly  developed  the  idea  of  rewards 
and  punishments  in  the  other  world  in  the  intervals  be- 
tween re-incarnations,  but  the  idea  of  a  place  of  punish- 
ment is  not  found  elsewhere  in  the  Indo-European  world, 
and  is  evidently  a  relatively  late  and  sporadic  develop- 
ment. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  CULT  OF  THE  DEAD  AMONG  THE   INDO-EUROPEANS 

a.  Deification  of  Spirits  of  the  Dead. — Because  of 
their  superhuman  powers  the  dead  were  regarded  by  all 
the  Indo-European  peoples  as  belonging  to  the  class  of 
gods.  They  were  not  confused  with  the  bright  powers 
of  nature,  and  there  is  no  evidence  that  gods  were  de- 
veloped out  of  ghosts,  nevertheless,  spirits  of  the  dead 
formed  a  distinct  class  of  superhuman  beings  alongside 
of  nature-spirits.  In  the  Vedas  the  devas,  or  'gods,'  and 
the  pitaras,  or  'ancestors,'  are  carefully  distinguished, 
but  both  are  divine,  both  are  invited  to  the  sacrifices,  and 
both  partake  of  the  offerings.  In  Greece  they  are  the 
deol  7raTpci5ot,  'the  ancestral  gods.'  In  Rome  they  are  the 
di  parentes,  'the  parental  gods,'  the  di  manes,  or  divi 
manes,  'the  good  gods.'  Among  the  peasants  of  White 
Russia  they  are  the  svjaty  dzjady,  'the  sacred  grandfath- 
ers.' The  sacrifices  offered  to  the  dead,  which  were 
similar  to  those  offered  to  the  gods,  prove  that  they  be- 
longed to  the  same  general  class  of  superhuman  beings. 

b.  The  Cult  of  the  Dead. — In  the  ordinary  Aryan 
family  individual  worship  of  the  dead  did  not  extend  be- 
yond three  generations  of  ascendants.  The  great-grand- 
father, grandfather,  and  father  were  the  only  ancestors 
that  one  knew,  and  these  alone  were  honoured  by  name 
after  death.  In  India  "to  three  ancestors  is  the  water 
offered,  to  three  is  the  pinda  given;  the  fourth  (i.e.,  the 
worshipping  descendant)   gives  it  to  the  three;  the  fifth 

(i.e.,  the  great-great-grandson)   has  nothing  to  do  with 
it."  x     Similarly  the  Greek  goneis,  or  'begetters,'  include 

1  Laws  of  Mann,  ix.  186. 

114 


iv        INDO-EUROPEAN  CULT  OF  DEAD       115 

the  three  generations  that  precede  a  man.  "The  beget- 
ters are  the  mother  and  father,  the  grandfather  and 
grandmother,  and  their  mother  and  father,  for  these  are 
the  origin  of  the  family."  ~  The  same  holds  true  of  the 
Latin  parentes.  "In  common  language  parens  means 
father  and  mother,  but  in  legal  terminology  the  grand- 
father and  great-grandfather,  the  grandmother  and 
great-grandmother  are  also  called  parentes."  3  In  sim- 
ilar manner  the  peasants  of  Great  Russia  use  the  term 
roditeli,  'parents,'  and  the  peasants  of  White  Russia,  the 
term  dzjady,  'grandfathers,'  as  including  three  genera- 
tions of  ascendants. 

Beyond  these  immediate  relatives  whom  one  had 
known  in  life  there  was  no  individual  cult  of  the  dead. 
Remoter  ancestors  faded  away  into  the  indiscriminate 
mass  of  discarnate  spirits.  In  India  these  were  known 
by  the  general  term  pitaras,  or  'forefathers.'  They  were 
invited  collectively  to  be  present  at  the  sacrifices,  but 
they  were  not  invoked  by  name.  They  were  identical 
with  the  Greek  &eol  7rarp§ot,  'the  ancestral  gods,'  and 
with  the  Roman  di  manes.  Only  occasionally  was  the  need 
felt  for  preserving  the  memory  of  a  remote  ancestor  as 
a  basis  of  unity  for  a  tribe  or  a  community;  or  an  in- 
dividual was  honoured  because  of  some  distinguished 
service  that  he  had  rendered  in  war  or  in  peace.  Thus 
arose  hero-worship,  through  which  individual  forefathers 
escaped  the  oblivion  that  befell  most  of  the  ancients. 
This  is  found  in  India,  Persia  and  among  the  Celts.  It 
had  a  great  development  in  Greece,  but  it  was  unknown 
in  Italy  before  the  intrusion  of  Greek  influence. 

The  cult  of  the  dead  was  thus  primarily  a  family  af- 
fair (sacra  privata)  as  opposed  to  public  worship  (sacra 
publica)  of  the  great  gods  of  the  State.  Only  when  a 
tribe  or  community  was  united  in  the  worship  of  a  com- 
mon ancestor  or  hero  did  worship  of  the  dead  take  on 

*  Isseus,   viii.   32. 

*  Festus,  s.  v.  parens. 


n6  SPIRITISM  iv 

a  national  character.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  State  also 
to  provide  offerings  for  spirits  of  the  dead  who  had  left 
no  descendants,  and  to  this  extent  offerings  to  the  di 
manes  became  sacra  publica. 

c.  Preparation  for  Burial. — Among  all  the  Aryans  it 
is  customary  to  remove  a  sick  person  from  his  bed  and 
place  him  on  the  ground  when  death  is  expected.  In 
India  "a  dying  man,  when  no  hopes  of  his  surviving  re- 
main, should  be  laid  upon  a  bed  of  kusa  grass,  either  in 
the  house  or  out  of  it,  if  he  be  a  Sudra,  but  in  the  open 
air  if  he  belong  to  another  tribe."  In  Europe  from  Ire- 
land to  the  Caspian  Sea  it  is  usual  to  lay  a  dying  man 
upon  the  earth  or  upon  straw.  The  probable  reason  for 
this  is  to  prevent  pollution  of  the  bed  through  contact 
with  the  corpse  which  is  tabu.  When  the  dying  man  is 
taken  out  of  the  house,  the  purpose  is  the  same,  to  pro- 
tect it  from  the  infection  of  uncleanness.  A  similar  mo- 
tive leads  to  the  pouring  out  of  water  and  other  liquids 
that  are  contained  in  vessels  at  the  time  of  a  death  in 
the  house.  The  liquids  can  absorb  tabu,  and  thus  render 
the  vessels  unfit  for  use. 

In  many  parts  of  the  Indo-European  world  religious 
rites  are  performed  to  assist  the  soul  in  leaving  the  body 
and  to  facilitate  its  entrance  into  the  other  world.  In 
India  the  dying  man  is  sprinkled  with  water  from  the 
Ganges,  and  his  body  is  smeared  with  clay  from  the  same 
sacred  stream.  In  Persia  the  haoma,  which  is  identical 
with  the  Indian  soma,  the  fermented  juice  of  a  sacred 
plant,  is  given  to  the  dying  like  the  Eucharist  in  extremis. 

In  all  parts  of  Europe  the  peasants  are  accustomed 
at  the  moment  of  death  to  open  a  door  or  window,  or  to 
remove  a  tile  from  the  roof,  in  order  to  allow  the  spirit 
an  easy  means  of  escape  from  the  house.  The  opening 
is  left  for  only  a  moment,  and  then  is  closed  to  prevent 
the  return  of  the  spirit  to  haunt  the  house.  A  still  more 
primitive  custom,  which  is  attested  among  the  Greeks 
and  Romans,  is  for  a  near  relative  to  receive  the  last 


iv        INDO-EUROPEAN  CULT  OF  DEAD     117 

breath  of  the   dying  into  his  mouth,   and  thus  become 
possessed  by  the  discarnate  spirit. 

The  moment  that  death  occurs  the  relatives  break  out 
into  loud  lamentation,  and  this  lasts  until  the  funeral 
ceremonies  are  complete.  The  laments  comprise  calls  to 
the  dead  to  return,  expostulations  with  him  for  forsaking 
those  who  love  him  and  are  dependent  upon  him,  praises 
of  his  virtues,  and  promises  to  avenge  him  if  he  has  been 
killed  in  battle  or  by  sorcery.  They  develop  into  elabo- 
rate dirges  that  are  handed  down  traditionally  with 
variable  collects  that  are  suitable  for  all  sorts  of  cases. 
They  are  usually  recited  or  chanted  by  the  women  of  the 
family;  but,  as  among  the  Semites,  professional  mourn- 
ers are  often  hired  for  the  occasion.  When  the  news  of 
Patroclus'  death  was  brought  to  Achilles, 

"Grasping  in  both  hands 
The  ashes  of  the  hearth,  he  showered  them  o'er 
His  head,  and  soiled  with  them  his  noble  face. 
They  hung  in  dark  lumps  to  his  comely  vest. 
Prone  in  the  dust  of  earth,  at  his  full  length, 
And  tearing  his  disordered  hair,  he  lay. 
Then  wailed  aloud  the  maidens  whom  in  war 
He  and  Patroclus  captured.     Forth  they  came, 
And  thronging  round  him  smote  their  breasts  and  swooned."  4 

Similarly  at  the  funeral  of  Patroclus, 

"When  the  maid 
Briseis,   beautiful   as  Venus,   saw 
Patroclus  lying  gashed  with  wounds,  she  sprang 
And  threw  herself  upon  the  dead,  and  tore 
Her  bosom,  her  fair  cheeks  and  delicate  neck; 
And  thus  the  graceful  maiden  weeping  said: 
'Patroclus,  dear  to  my  unhappy  heart! 
I  left  thee  in  full  life,  when  from  this  tent 
They  led  me ;  I  return  and  find  thee  dead, 
O  chieftain  of  the  people!     Thus  it  is 
That  sorrow  upon  sorrow  is  my  lot.'  "  5 

*  Iliad,  xviii.  22ff. 
■  Iliad,  xix.   282ff. 


n8  SPIRITISM  iv 

When  Priam  brings  the  body  of  Hector  back  to  Troy, 

"On  a  fair  couch  they  laid  the  corse,  and  placed 
Singers   beside   it,   leaders  of  the   dirge, 
Who  sang  a  sorrowful,  lamenting  strain, 
And  all  the  women  answered  it  with  sobs. 
White-armed  Andromache  in  both  her  hands 
Took  warlike  Hector's  head,  and  over  it 
Began  the  lamentation  midst  them  all : 
'Thou  hast  died  young,  my  husband,  leaving  me 
In  this  thy  home  a  widow,  and  one  son, 
An  infant  yet.'  "  6 

So  violent  were  the  expressions  of  grief  that  early 
lawgivers  found  it  necessary  to  check  them  by  legislative 
enactment.  Solon  directed  that  only  the  women  nearest 
of  kin  to  the  deceased  should  take  part  in  the  mourning, 
that  they  should  abstain  from  violent  outbursts  and  from 
mutilating  themselves,  and  that  they  should  not  use  set 
forms  of  dirges.7 

Precisely  similar  customs  exist  among  the  Russian 
peasantry  at  the  present  time.  "The  room  of  the  peas- 
ant's house  in  which  the  dead  body  lies  re-echoes  with  the 
weeping  mourning  of  relatives,  neighbours  and  acquaint- 
ances. In  such  a  case  the  women  naturally  distinguish 
themselves  by  special  ecstasies  of  feeling,  their  wailing 
and  moaning  and  their  despair  at  times  reaching  such 
a  pitch  that,  on  looking  at  them,  one  involuntarily  begins 
to  be  apprehensive  not  only  for  the  health,  but  even  for 
the  life  of  some  of  them."  8 

Among  all  the  Aryans  great  care  was  bestowed  upon 
the  last  toilet  of  the  dead.  The  eyes  were  closed,  and 
weights  were  placed  upon  the  lids  to  keep  them  down. 
The  probable  reason  was  the  desire  to  keep  the  spirit 
which  still  haunted  its  body  from  casting  an  evil  eye  upon 
the  living.     The  body  was  washed,   sometimes   before 

'Iliad,  xxiv.   719ff. 

T  Plutarch,  Solon,  21. 

8  P.  V.  Sejn,  Materials  for  a  Knowledge  of  the  Life  and  Language  of  the 
Russian  Population  of  the  North-lVest,  quoted  in  Hastings,  Enc.  Rel.  and  Eth., 
ii.  p.   19  b. 


iv       INDO-EUROPEAN  CULT  OF  DEAD      119 

death  occurred,  so  as  to  avoid  the  tabu  of  contact  with 
the  corpse,  and  was  dressed  in  its  best  clothes,  sometimes 
in  garments  specially  prepared  for  the  purpose.  Sandals 
or  shoes  were  provided  for  the  long  journey  to  the  other 
world.  In  earliest  times  all  the  ornaments  and  jewelry 
that  had  belonged  to  the  living  were  put  upon  him,  and 
all  his  implements,  weapons  and  other  personal  property 
were  laid  beside  him.  In  later  times  motives  of  economy 
led  to  the  substitution  of  a  single  typical  ornament  and 
the  placing  of  a  small  coin  (Charon's  penny)  in  the 
hand,  or  in  the  mouth  of  the  deceased.  Originally  the 
body  was  tied  up  in  the  so-called  "embryonic"  position 
with  the  knees  under  the  chin,  as  among  savage  peoples 
in  all  parts  of  the  world.  Some  anthropologists  explain 
this  as  a  symbolic  expression  of  the  thought  that  death 
is  birth  into  another  life;  others,  as  merely  an  imitation 
of  the  squatting  position  in  which  men  rested  before 
stools  or  chairs  were  invented.  In  later  times  the  body 
was  extended  at  full  length,  the  position  in  which  men 
were  accustomed  to  sleep  upon  beds  or  couches. 

After  the  corpse  was  prepared  for  burial  it  lay  in 
state,  usually  until  the  third  day  after  death.  Among  the 
Greeks  it  was  placed  on  a  bier  in  the  middle  of  the  house 
or  tent  with  its  feet  toward  the  door.9  The  same  custom 
survives  today  among  the  peasants  of  White  Russia. 
"The  lying  in  state  takes  place  in  the  'corner'  (kutu), 
which  in  this  case  does  not  mean  the  'corner'  under  the 
sacred  images,  but  the  bench  opposite  the  entrance  door." 
"They  lay  the  dead  body  on  a  long  broad  bench,  or  on  a 
frame  specially  prepared  for  it  in  the  middle  of  the  room, 
with  the  head  towards  the  sacred  images."  "The  White 
Russian  peasant  wishes  to  lie  on  his  own  'bench'  after  his 
death;  he  has  not  died  'decently'  if  he  has  lain  in  the 
'corner'  in  a  stranger's  house."  10  In  some  places  the 
lying  in  state  was  extended  over  a  second  night,  or  even 

'Iliad,   xix.    2t2. 

10  P.  V.   Sejn,  in  Hastings,  Eric.  Rel.  and  Eth.,  ii.  p.   19  a. 


120  SPIRITISM  iv 

longer.  Thus  among  the  Romans  in  the  case  of  high 
dignitaries  it  lasted  for  seven  days. 

The  custom  was  wide-spread  of  keeping  lights  burning 
at  night  during  the  laying  out  of  the  corpse.  In  India 
this  was  kept  up  for  ten  days  after  death,  and  was  said 
to  be  done  in  order  to  light  the  spirit  on  its  journey  to 
the  other  world.  This  custom  survives  in  all  parts  of 
modern  Europe  in  the  lighting  of  candles  at  the  head  and 
the  feet  of  the  dead. 

During  the  night,  or  nights,  in  which  the  body  was 
lying  in  state  it  was  expected  that  the  relatives  and  friends 
would  sit  up  with  it.  This  was  the  "wake"  which  was 
once  universal  in  Europe,  is  still  familiar  in  Ireland,  and 
has  not  yet  entirely  disappeared  from  England  and  Scot- 
land. The  explanation  commonly  given  of  this  world- 
wide custom  is  that  the  spirit  remains  with  its  body  until 
burial;  and  that  if  one  falls  asleep,  it  may  enter  into 
him,  causing  sickness  or  death.  Among  the  Slavic  Wends 
of  the  Spreewald,  not  only  the  family,  but  even  the  cattle 
are  kept  awake,  and  seed-grain  is  stirred  so  long  as  the 
corpse  remains  in  the  house.  Food  and  drink  were  pro- 
vided for  the  relatives  and  friends  who  sat  up  with  the 
dead,  and  games  were  played  to  while  away  the  time. 
Thus  "wakes"  easily  degenerated  into  drunkenness  and 
brawling.  Food  was  also  set  out  for  the  dead  in  order 
that  he  might  share  in  the  festivities  with  the  living. 
These  food-offerings  still  survive  in  many  parts  of  Eu- 
rope. In  Russia  a  piece  of  bread  is  laid  upon  the  head 
of  the  deceased,  and  a  bowl  of  water  is  placed  beside 
him.  In  the  department  of  Loir-et-Cher,  France,  all  the 
food  that  is  found  in  the  house  is  thrown  into  the  room 
in  which  the  dead  is  laid  out.  In  Greece  both  bread  and 
water  are  placed  upon  the  bier.  In  India  a  dish  of  rice 
and  a  bowl  of  water  are  set  out  in  the  house  for  ten  days 
after  death.  In  many  parts  of  Europe  all  that  survives 
of  the  feast  is  a  dish  of  water.11 

11  E.  S.  Hartland,  in  Hastings,  Enc.  Rel.  and  Eth.,  iv.  pp.  415,  418. 


iv        INDO-EUROPEAN  CULT  OF  DEAD     121 

Coffins  were  unknown  during  the  Stone  Age,  and  are 
not  found  in  any  of  the  oldest  cemeteries  of  Greece, 
Italy,  or  of  northern  Europe.  Even  in  the  Mycenaean 
period  of  the  Bronze  Age  in  Greece  they  did  not  yet 
appear.  In  the  time  of  Lycurgus  the  Spartans  were 
wrapped  in  a  purple  shroud,  and  buried  upon  branches 
of  palm  and  olive.12  Subsequently  in  "dipylon-graves" 
of  the  "geometric"  period  the  dead  are  buried  in  huge 
pithoi,  or  water-jars.  Still  later  coffins  and  sarcophagi 
were  introduced  from  Egypt  and  from  the  Orient.  The 
earliest  race  that  has  left  records  in  the  Campagna  in 
Italy  enclosed  its  dead  in  hollow  trunks  of  trees.  The 
same  custom  appeared  in  northern  Europe  during  the 
later  Bronze  Age.  It  still  survives  among  some  Slavonic 
tribes  and  religious  sects.  The  modern  coffin,  a  box 
constructed  out  of  boards,  is  of  Christian  origin,  and 
spread  throughout  Europe  with  the  diffusion  of  Christi- 
anity. 

The  funeral  procession  was  an  important  feature  in 
the  obsequies  of  all  the  Indo-Europeans.  In  India  "the 
corpse  is  carried  out  by^  the  southern  gate  of  the  town, 
if  the  deceased  were  a  Sudra;  by  the  western,  if  he  were 
a  Brdhmdna;  by  the  northern,  if  he  belonged  to  the  mili- 
tary class;  and  by  the  eastern  portal,  if  he  sprang  from 
the  mercantile  tribe.  Should  the  road  pass  through  any 
inhabited  place,  a  circuit  must  be  made  to  avoid  it;  and 
when  the  procession  has  reached  its  destination,  after 
once  halting  by  the  way,  the  corpse  must  be  gently  laid 
with  the  head  towards  the  south  on  a  bed  of  kusa,  the  tips 
of  which  are  pointed  southward."  13  In  Persia  the  Avesta 
prescribes  that  the  funeral  procession  must  take  place  in 
the  day  time  and  in  dry  weather.  The  body  is  carried  on 
an  iron  bier  (iron  has  special  prophylactic  powers  against 
tabu)  by  professional  bearers  who  guard  against  de- 
filement of  themselves  or  others.    In  Greece  the  ekphord, 

15  Rohde,  Psyche*  i.  p.  226,  notes  2.  3. 

13  Colebrooke,  Asiatic  Researches,  vii.   p.   241. 


122  SPIRITISM  iv 

or  carrying  from  the  house  to  the  grave  or  pyre,  as  de- 
scribed in  Homer,  was  an  elaborate  ritual.  It  is  often 
depicted  upon  ancient  dipylon-vases.  The  body  is  car- 
ried upon  an  open  bier  or  upon  a  waggon  drawn  by  two 
horses,  while  men  with  drawn  swords  march  at  the  side, 
and  a  host  of  mourning  women  beating  their  heads  with 
their  hands.14  In  Rome  the  dead  man  was  carried  out 
of  the  house  feet  first  in  order  that  he  might  not  see 
which  way  he  was  going  and  be  able  to  find  his  way  back. 
The  masks  of  the  ancestors  were  brought  out,  and  were 
worn  by  impersonators,  and  the  procession  moved  to 
the  Forum,  where  the  dead  man  was  made  to  stand  erect 
on  the  tribunal  visible  to  all.  The  relatives  and  citizens 
gathered  round  him,  and  the  nearest  relative  pronounced 
a  eulogy  in  his  honour,  if  he  were  a  noble.15 

d.  Disposal  of  the  Dead  Among  the  Indo-Europeans. 
— i.  Exposure. — The  earliest  Indo-European  custom 
seems  to  have  been  exposure  of  the  dead  to  be  devoured 
by  beasts  and  birds.  Herodotus,  i.  140,  says:  "The 
body  of  a  male  Persian  is  never  buried,  until  it  has  been 
torn  either  by  a  dog  or  bird  of  prey.  That  the  Magi 
have  this  custom  is  beyond  a  doubt,  for  they  practise  it 
without  any  concealment."  Strabo  also  relates,  xi.  11,  3, 
that  exposure  of  the  dead  was  the  rule  in  East  Iran.  This 
has  been  usual  among  nomadic  tribes  in  all  parts  of  the 
world.  The  practice  has  survived  in  orthodox  Zoroas- 
trianism,  which  requires  that  bodies  shall  not  be  buried 
for  fear  of  polluting  the  earth,  or  burned  for  fear  of 
polluting  the  sacred  fire.  In  antiquity  the  dead  were  laid 
on  dry  ground  far  from  the  dwellings  of  men,  but  subse- 
quently towers  called  dakhmas  were  constructed  to  re- 
ceive them.  Such  towers  were  common  in  Persia  before 
the  triumph  of  Islam,  and  they  are  still  used  by  the 
Parsees  in  India.  The  bodies  are  laid  upon  iron  bars, 
and  the  flesh  is  devoured  by  vultures.     The  bones  then 

"Rohde,    Psyche*   i.    p.    222,    224,   226. 

"  Granger,   Worship   of  the  Romans,   p.   65. 


iv        INDO-EUROPEAN  CULT  OF  DEAD      123 

fall  through  between  the  bars  Into  a  pit  in  the  centre. 
In  India,  even  in  Vedic  times,  exposure  of  the  dead  was 
known,  although  burial  and  cremation  were  more  com- 
mon; and  in  the  Ramayana,  i.  90,  17,  it  is  said,  "When  a 
man  dies  he  is  buried,  or  burned,  or  exposed."  Down  to 
the  present  time  it  is  customary  to  cast  bodies  into  the 
Ganges.  These  survivals  prove  that  once  exposure  was 
the  habit  of  the  Aryans  in  India  as  well  as  of  the  closely 
related  Iranians. 

The  same  thing  is  proved  by  the  connection  of  dogs 
with  the  dead  in  Indo-European  mythology  and  ritual. 
In  the  Rig  Veda  mention  is  made  of  the  dogs  of  Yama, 
the  King  of  the  Underworld.  In  x.  14  they  are  called 
"thy  guardian  dogs,  O  Yama,  the  four-eyed  ones  who 
guard  the  path,  who  look  on  men  .  .  .  broad-nosed, 
dark  messengers  of  Yama,  who  run  among  the  people." 
In  vii.  55,  2,  they  are  described  as  spotted  and  as  barking. 
In  the  Avestan  religion  a  dog  with  "four  eyes,"  that  is 
with  white  spots  over  the  eyes,  must  be  brought  in  to 
gaze  upon  the  corpse  when  it  is  laid  out;  a  dog  also 
meets  the  soul  on  the  bridge  over  which  it  must  pass  to  the 
other  world.  Homer  (77.  viii.  368  ;  Od.  xi.  623)  knows  a 
dog  that  guards  the  entrance  to  Hades,  but  does  not  name 
him.  Hesiod  {Theog.  311)  calls  him  Kerberos;  and 
says  that  he  greets  new-comers  with  wagging  tail,  but 
devours  those  who  try  to  escape  from  Hades.  The  name 
Kerberos  has  been  compared  with  Sanskrit  Cdrvara, 
'spotted.'  Even  Hermes,  the  conductor  of  souls  in  Greek 
mythology,  seems  to  be  etymologically  identical  with 
Sarameyas,  the  son  of  Saramd,  the  bitch  of  the  gods  in 
the  Veda.  Hekate,  a  goddess  of  Hades,  was  repre- 
sented originally  with  a  bitch's  head,16  and  was  attended 
with  a  pack  of  hounds.  Dogs  were  also  frequently  de- 
picted on  Greek  tombstones.17  Among  the  Celts  Hades 
was   conceived  as  a  monstrous   dog  that  devoured  the 

15  Usener,   Gotternamcn,   p.   325. 
"Rohde,   Psyche*   i.   242;    ii.   83  n. 


i24  SPIRITISM  iv 

dead,  and  the  King  of  the  Underworld  hunted  with  a 
pack  of  spotted  dogs.18  Among  the  Slavs,  as  among  the 
Persians,  a  dog  was  necessary  to  catch  the  soul  of  the 
dying;  or,  according  to  later  conceptions,  to  accompany 
it  into  the  other  world.19  All  these  widely  scattered 
conceptions  point  to  a  time  when  corpses  were  exposed 
to  be  devoured  by  dogs. 

2.  Burial. — When  the  Aryans  abandoned  the  noma- 
dic life  and  began  to  become  agriculturalists,  exposure  of 
the  dead  gave  place  to  burial.  Comparative  philology 
shows  that  this  custom  goes  back  to  a  time  prior  to  the 
separation  of  the  branches  of  this  race. 

In  India  cremation  was  the  rule  in  Vedic  times,  but 
burial  also  was  known.  In  the  Rig  Veda,  x.  15,  14,  the 
pitaras  are  divided  into  "those  who  have  been  burned 
with  fire  and  those  who  have  not  been  burned  with  fire." 
Also  in  the  Atharva  Veda,  xvii.  2,  34,  "buried  and  cre- 
mated" are  distinguished  among  the  pitaras.  The  Ma- 
habharata  also  knows  the  burial  of  adults.  In  modern 
India  infants  are  buried,  and  the  bones  of  adults  who 
have  been  cremated  are  buried  for  a  few  days  and  are 
then  thrown  into  the  Ganges — a  curious  mixture  of  three 
methods  of  disposal. 

The  Iranian  Scythians  practised  burial  only,  according 
to  Herodotus,  iv.  71  ff.  In  i.  140  he  narrates  that,  while 
the  Magi  exposed  their  dead,  the  rest  of  the  Persians 
buried  them  in  a  covering  of  wax.  Archaeology  shows 
that  the  Achsemenian  Persian  kings  were  buried  in  their 
tombs  at  Persepolis.  Apparently  the  prohibition  of 
burial  in  the  Vendidad  was  not  yet  known;  the  Gathas, 
the  earliest  part  of  the  Avesta,  do  not  contain  it. 

In  Greek  thapto  (root  taph)  means  both  'bury'  and 
'burn,'  and  taphos  means  both  'grave'  and  'funeral  cere- 
mony' ;  but  the  original  meaning  is  'bury,'  as  is  shown  by 
the  Armenian  parallel  damban,  'grave,'   and  old  High 

18  Hopkins,  Religions,   p.    132;   Macbain,   Celtic  Religion,  p.    138. 
18  Hopkins,  Religions,  p.  145. 


iv        INDO-EUROPEAN  CULT  OF  DEAD      125 

German  tunc,  'pit.'  In  the  Mycenaean  age  in  Greece 
burial  alone  was  the  custom,  but  it  is  possible  that  the 
Mycenasans  belonged  to  an  earlier  pre-Greek  race.  Un- 
questionably Greek  cemeteries,  however,  disclose  a  pre- 
ponderance of  burials  over  cremations.  Out  of  nineteen 
"dipylon-graves"  of  the  "geometric"  period  discovered 
in  the  earliest  Athenian  cemetery  only  one  contained  an 
urn  with  ashes  and  burnt  bones.  Even  when  the  body 
was  cremated,  it  was  usual  to  bury  the  bones.  Burial, 
accordingly,  seems  to  have  been  the  primitive  custom. 

In  Latin  the  original  meaning  of  sepelio  is  unques- 
tionably not  'burn'  but  'bury.'  It  is  connected  with  Sans- 
krit sapary,  'honour,'  and  indicates  the  primitive  ritual 
significance  of  burial.  Latin  orcus,  'underworld,'  is  also 
probably  the  equivalent  of  Gothic  aiirahi,  'sepulchre.' 
Excavations  in  Italy  show  that  the  oldest  cemeteries  con- 
tain burials  only,  in  higher  levels  urns  of  ashes  begin  to 
appear  along  with  burial,  and  these  become  more  fre- 
quent until  Christian  times,  when  burial  again  becomes 
the  only  method.  Roman  tradition  recorded  a  law  of 
the  regal  period  which  forbade  that  a  pregnant  woman 
should  be  buried  until  the  unborn  child  had  been  cut  out 
of  her.  This  implies  burial  as  the  only  method  of  dis- 
posing of  the  dead.  The  Law  of  the  Twelve  Tables,  x. 
1,  reads,  "Let  no  one  bury  or  burn  a  dead  man  in  the 
city";  and  x.  8,  9,  "Nor  let  one  bestow  gold  on  one  who 
eats  with  teeth  joined  with  gold,  either  let  one  bury  or 
burn  him  with  it."  Cicero  20  says:  "To  me  that  kind  of 
burial  seems  most  ancient  which  Cyrus  employed,  ac- 
cording to  Xenophon.  In  it  the  body  is  returned  to 
earth.  We  are  told  also  that  King  Numa  was  buried  by 
the  same  rite  in  that  tomb  which  is  near  the  Altar  of 
the  Fountain,  and  it  is  well  known  that  the  clan  of  the 
Cornelii  have  used  this  mode  of  sepulture  down  to  our 
time."     According  to   Pliny,21   "Cremation  was  not  an 

20  Be  Legibus,  ii.  22. 

21  Hist.  Nat.,  vii.   187. 


126  SPIRITISM  iv 

ancient  custom  among  the  Romans;  they  deposited  in  the 
ground.  .  .  .  Nevertheless,,  many  families  have  pre- 
served the  ancient  rites,  as,  for  instance,  the  Cornelian 
clan,  where  it  is  handed  down  that  no  one  was  cremated 
before  the  Dictator  Sulla."  Even  when  cremation  became 
common,  the  ashes  were  always  buried;  and  the  custom 
of  the  os  resectum,  in  accordance  with  which  a  finger,  or 
some  other  part  of  the  body  was  buried,  even  when  the 
rest  was  burned,  indicates  burial  as  the  more  primitive 
usage. 

Among  the  Celts,  Teutons,  and  Slavs  archaeology 
shows  that  the  primitive  method  of  disposal  of  the  dead 
was  inhumation,  and  this  conclusion  is  confirmed  by  com- 
parative philology  which  shows  that  the  words  for  'bury' 
and  'grave'  in  the  languages  of  these  peoples  are  found 
in  all  the  other  Indo-European  dialects.  Classical  writ- 
ers mention  only  cremation  among  them,  but  this  is  to 
be  regarded  as  an  innovation,  as  in  Greece  and  Italy. 

3.  Cremation. — Alongside  of  burial  cremation  is 
found  at  a  very  early  date  in  all  Indo-European  lands. 
In  the  Vedas  it  is  regarded  as  the  usual  method,  and  it 
is  the  only  one  for  which  ritual  forms  are  provided.  This 
custom  has  lasted  down  to  modern  times  in  India.  The 
sons  of  the  deceased  prepare  a  pyre  in  a  ceremonially 
clean  spot,  preferably  near  a  sacred  river,  and  the  body 
is  laid  upon  it.  The  pyre  is  lighted  with  "clean"  fire, 
and  burns  until  the  skull  cracks,  when  it  is  believed  that 
the  spirit  escapes  from  the  body.  If  this  does  not  take 
place  at  the  proper  time,  the  skull  is  fractured  with  a 
club  in  order  to  facilitate  the  egress  of  the  soul.  When 
a  person  has  died  away  from  home,  or  when  for  any 
reason  the  body  has  disappeared,  an  effigy  is  prepared 
which  is  cremated  in  the  place  of  the  real  corpse.22 

In  Persia  cremation  was  common  among  the  non-Zoro- 
astrian  tribes,  as  is  evident  from  the  prohibitions  of  the 
Avesta.    Even  the  name  dakhma,  which  is  applied  to  the 

22  See  H.  T.  Colebrcoke,  Asiatic  Researches,  vii.   1803,  pp.  241ff. 


iv        INDO-EUROPEAN  CULT  OF  DEAD     127 

towers  on  which  the  dead  are  exposed,  means  originally 
'burning-place.' 

In  Greece  cremation  was  the  rule  in  the  Homeric  age 
as  appears  from  Iliad,  xxiii.  114ft.,  where  the  Greeks  go 
to  the  mountains  to  obtain  logs  for  the  funeral-pyre  of 
Patroclus.  Later  Greek  writers  show  that  cremation 
was  the  usual,  although  by  no  means  the  exclusive  prac- 
tice, among  the  upper  classes,  and  this  testimony  is  borne 
out  by  archaeology. 

In  Rome,  in  cemeteries  of  the  Iron  Age,  cremations 
and  inhumations  appear  side  by  side.  The  Laws  of  the 
Twelve  Tables,  as  noted  above,  sanction  both  burning 
and  burial.  Latin  writers  are  full  of  allusions  to  cre- 
mation. 

Among  the  Celts  cremation  is  known  from  the  testi- 
mony of  Caesar, 23  and  Pomponius  Mela,24  and  also  from 
the  discoveries  of  archaeology.  In  the  Hallstatt  ceme- 
tery, which  is  probably  of  Celtic  origin,  four  hundred 
and  fifty-five  ash  graves  are  found  with  five  hundred  and 
twenty-five  burial  graves. 

Cremation  among  the  Slavs  of  the  lower  Danube  is 
attested  by  the  Arab  historians  Mas'udi,  Ibn  Dustah  and 
Ibn  Fadhlan.  The  last  of  these  represents  a  Russian  as 
saying:  "You  Arabs  are  indeed  a  stupid  people:  you  take 
him  who  is  the  best  beloved  and  the  most  highly  honoured 
among  men  and  cast  him  into  the  earth,  where  the  creep- 
ing beasts  and  worms  feed  on  him.  We,  on  the  other 
hand,  burn  him  in  an  instant,  so  that  he  goes  directly, 
without  delay,  into  Paradise."  25  Early  Church  Fathers 
and  canons  inveigh  against  this  practice.  In  a  treaty 
between  the  pagan  Prussians  and  Lithuanians  and  the 
Teutonic  Knights  from  the  year  1249  it  is  stipulated  that 
the  former  shall  no  longer  continue  the  heathenish  cus- 
tom of  burning  the  dead.     Peter  of  Dusburg  also  gives 

!S  De  Bello  Gallic o,   vi.   19. 

34  Chorographia,  iii.    19. 

*»Ibn  Fadhlan,  ed.  and  trans,  by  C.  E.  Frahn,   St.   Petersburg,   1828. 


128  SPIRITISM  iv 

detailed  accounts  of  cremations  of  people  of  rank  among 
the  North  Slavs. 

Teutonic  cremation  is  recorded  by  Tacitus,26  and  is 
presupposed  by  the  Edda,  Nibelungenlied,  and  Beowulf. 
As  late  as  A.D.  785  Charlemagne  issued  a  decree  against 
the  Saxons:  "If  any  one,  in  accordance  with  the  custom 
of  the  Pagans,  shall  commit  the  body  of  a  dead  man  to 
the  flame  to  be  burned,  or  shall  reduce  his  bones  to  ashes, 
he  shall  suiter  capital  punishment."  In  Scandinavia  cre- 
mations were  common  alongside  of  burials  during  the 
Iron  Age.  In  Northern  Norway  the  corpse  was  some- 
times burned  in  the  ship  in  which  during  life  its  owner 
had  sailed.27 

From  the  foregoing  facts  it  is  clear  that,  while  burial 
was  probably  the  older  custom  among  the  Indo-Euro- 
peans,  cremation  was  found  in  all  branches  of  the  race, 
and  was  of  high  antiquity.  To  explain  the  origin  of  this 
new  method  of  disposing  of  the  dead  several  theories 
have  been  proposed.  E.  Rohde,28  S.  Miiller,29  and  R. 
Much30  think  that  it  arose  out  of  a  desire  to  free  the 
soul  from  its  connection  with  the  body.  According  to 
ancient  belief  it  clung  to  its  dead  body  and  continued  to 
haunt  the  tomb  in  which  this  was  buried.  The  purpose 
of  burial  was  to  preserve  the  body  as  long  as  possible  as 
a  habitation  for  the  discarnate  spirit.  On  the  contrary, 
the  aim  of  cremation  was  to  destroy  the  body  as  rapidly 
as  possible  so  that  the  soul  might  be  free  to  enter  upon 
a  celestial  existence.  According  to  these  scholars,  the 
dogma  of  cremation  arose  in  one  branch  of  the  Indo- 
European  race,  and  spread  to  other  branches  of  the  race. 
The  chief  difficulty  with  this  theory  is  the  antiquity  of 
cremation — it  goes  back  to  the  Bronze  Age — which  sug- 
gests that  it  was  practised  by  the  Aryans  before  their  sepa- 

28  Germania,  27. 

"  See   Hastings,   End.   Rel.   and  Eth.,   ii.,   p.    17. 

28  Psyche*  pp.   27-36. 

29  Nordische  Altertumskunde,  i.   pp.  363ff. 

80  Anseiger  fur  deutsches  Altertum,  xlviii.   pp.    315ff. 


iv        INDO-EUROPEAN  CULT  OF  DEAD      129 

ration;  it  is  also  improbable  that  a  dogma  of  this  sort 
should  spread  from  race  to  race,  when  there  is  no  evi- 
dence that  other  dogmas  have  spread  in  a  similar  way. 

W.  Ridgeway  31  modifies  the  theory  by  the  claim  that 
cremation  originated  among  the  Celts,  and  was  spread 
by  them  through  conquest  to  Italy,  Greece,  and  even  as 
far  as  Persia  and  India;  but  of  such  a  conquest  we  have 
no  evidence  apart  from  the  appearance  of  cremation  in 
all  Indo-European  lands. 

E.  Meyer 32  holds  that  cremation  was  a  primitive 
Aryan  custom  alongside  of  inhumation,  but  that  it  was 
performed  originally  only  in  the  case  of  heroes,  chief- 
tains, or  kings,  who  were  believed  to  partake  of  the 
divine  nature  and  therefore  were  returned  by  fire  to  the 
celestial  regions.  Subsequently  the  rite  was  extended  to 
ordinary  persons,  just  as  in  Egypt  royal  funeral  rites 
eventually  became  the  property  of  private  citizens.33 
This  theory  seems  best  to  explain  the  facts.  In  India 
young  children  are  not  burned.  In  Homer  only  heroes 
are  laid  on  the  pyre ;  there  is  no  evidence  that  common 
people  or  slaves  were  cremated,  except  when  they  ac- 
companied their  lord.  The  cremations  among  the  Celts 
and  Teutons  which  Caesar  and  Tacitus  describe  were 
evidently  of  nobles  on  account  of  the  costly  offerings  that 
accompanied  them.  This  distinction  among  the  dead  is 
found  among  widely  scattered  savage  peoples.  The  Al- 
gonkins,  for  instance,  burn  the  great,  but  bury  ordinary 
people.34 

e.  Rites  of  Burial. —  1.  The  Place  of  Burial. — The 
oldest  usage  apparently  was  to  bury  the  dead  in  the 
houses  in  which  they  had  lived.  The  houses  were  then 
abandoned  by  the  other  members  of  the  family.  The 
memory  of  this  custom  still  lingered  among  the  Greeks 
in  the  Classical  period.     When  the  body  of  Phocion  was 

31  The  Early  Age  of  Greece,   i,  chap.   vii. 
82  Geschichte  des  Altertums,2   ii.  p.   771. 
33  See  p.  174. 
84  Hopkins,  Religions,  p.  89. 


i3o  SPIRITISM  iv 

burned  in  a  foreign  land,  his  wife  placed  the  bones  that 
remained  in  her  bosom,  carried  them  home,  brought  them 
in  by  night  into  his  house,  and  buried  them  alongside  of 
the  hearth.35  Servius  36  says  that  the  original  Roman 
custom  was  to  bury  in  the  house.  As  late  as  the  Laws  of 
the  Twelve  Tables  people  were  still  buried  in  the  court- 
yard, and  in  the  Classical  period  infants  less  than  forty 
days  old  were  buried  in  niches  in  the  wall  under  the  over- 
hanging eaves.  The  early  sepulchral  urns  from  Latium 
found  at  Alba  and  on  the  Esquiline  are  imitations  of  the 
huts  in  which  the  primitive  inhabitants  of  the  region 
dwelt.  The  Roman  cult  of  the  lares  is  closely  connected 
with  the  interment  of  ancestors  in  the  family  dwelling. 
The  earliest  Celts  also  apparently  buried  beside  the  fam- 
ily hearth,  and  this  custom  lasted  among  the  ^Edui  down 
to  a  late  date. 

In  the  earliest  times,  when  the  house  was  a  mere  wig- 
wam, it  was  possible  to  abandon  it  to  the  dead;  but  with 
advancing  civilisation  this  became  impracticable,  and  it 
was  necessary  either  for  the  living  to  share  the  abode 
with  the  dead,  or  to  remove  the  dead  from  the  house. 
Both  methods  were  in  use,  but  the  latter  prevailed.  The 
dead  were  then  laid  in  graves  beside  roads,  or  paths, 
or  at  cross-ways.  Roads  served  as  boundaries  between 
families  and  clans,  and  where  the  departed  were  placed 
on  the  edge  of  the  estate  they  protected  it  from  intrusion 
by  outsiders.  This  custom  is  attested  in  India,  Greece, 
Italy,  and  among  the  Slavs;  and  the  monuments  of  the 
Roman  nobles  still  line  the  main  thoroughfares  leading 
to  the  Eternal  City. 

The  primitive  Aryan  grave  was  merely  a  shallow 
trench  over  which  after  burial  a  tumulus,  or  mound,  was 
heaped,  varying  in  size  according  to  the  importance  of 
the  individual.    In  the  Homeric  poems  tumuli  are  reared 

•"Plutarch,  Phocion,  37;  cf.  [Plato],  Minos,  315  D. 
88  Ad  JSn.,  v.  64;  vi.  162. 


iv        INDO-EUROPEAN  CULT  OF  DEAD     131 

over  the  ashes  of  heroes,  and  similar  "barrows"  are 
found  among  the  Celts  and  the  Teutons.  The  elaborate 
"bee-hive"  tombs  of  the  Mycenaean  period  are  probably 
pre-Aryan,  and  the  dolmens,  cromlechs,  and  other  mega- 
lithic  sepulchral  monuments  of  northern  Europe  are  also 
pre-Aryan.  Down  to  the  latest  times  the  common  people 
continued  to  be  interred  in  simple  graves.  The  rock- 
hewn  tombs  and  mausolea  of  the  Greek  and  the  Roman 
aristocracy  were  imitations  of  Egyptian  and  Oriental 
fashions. 

2.  Offerings  Placed  in  the  Grave. — Archaeology 
shows  that  from  the  beginning  of  the  Neolithic  age  on- 
ward food  and  drink,  weapons  and  ornaments,  and  even 
favourite  animals,  slaves,  and  wives,  were  buried  with 
the  dead  in  all  parts  of  Europe.  The  original  idea  seems 
to  have  been  that  all  the  personal  property  of  the  de- 
ceased must  go  with  him  into  the  other  world,  and  that 
he  must  be  abundantly  supplied  with  provisions  for  the 
journey.  When  inhumation  gave  place  to  cremation,  the 
gifts  were  either  buried  with  the  ashes  or  were  consumed 
on  the  funeral  pyre. 

According  to  the  Rig-Veda,  x.  18,  the  ancient  Aryans 
in  India  laid  his  bow  in  the  hands  of  the  dead  warrior  on 
the  pyre,  and  then  took  it  away  from  him.  They  also 
laid  his  wife  upon  the  pyre,  and  then  lifted  her  off.  This 
is  evidently  a  commutation  of  an  original  burning  of  the 
bow  and  of  the  widow.  In  modern  India  offerings  of 
food  and  of  water  are  made  in  connection  with  the  cre- 
mation ceremonies,  and  the  sati  of  widows  has  lasted 
down  to  modern  times. 

The  tombs  at  Mycenae,  Tiryns,  and  other  ancient  cen- 
tres in  Greece,  which  are  perhaps  pre-Aryan,  were  filled 
with  food,  treasures  and  weapons.  At  the  cremation  of 
Patroclus  Achilles  and  his  friends  cut  off  their  hair  and 
laid  it  upon  the  bier. 


132  SPIRITISM  iv 

"With  sorrowful  hearts  they  raised  and  laid  the  corse 
Upon  the  pyre.     Then  they  flayed  and  dressed 
Before  it  many  fatlings  of  the  flock, 
And  oxen  with  curved  feet  and  crooked  horns. 
From  these  magnanimous  Achilles  took 
The  fat,  and  covered  with  it  carefully 
The  dead  from  head  to  foot.     Beside  the  bier, 
And  leaning  toward  it,  jars  of  honey  and  oil 
He  placed,  and  flung,  with  many  a  deep-drawn  sigh, 
Twelve  high-necked  steeds  upon  the  pile,  nine  hounds 
There  were,  which  from  the  table  of  the  prince 
Were  daily  fed ;  of  these  Achilles  struck 
The  heads  from  two,  and  laid  them  on  the  wood, 
And  after  these,  and  last,  twelve  gallant  sons 
Of  the  brave  Trojans,  butchered  by  the  sword."  3T 

Pausanias,  ii.  21,  7,  preserves  tradition  of  a  time  when 
it  was  customary  for  Greek  wives  to  die  with  their  hus- 
bands. So  costly  were  the  offerings  that  were  deposited 
with  the  dead  by  the  ancient  Greeks  that  the  living  were 
impoverished,  and  early  legislators  found  it  necessary 
to  check  the  practice  by  prohibitions.  Early  Roman 
codes  also  forbade  the  burial  of  gold  with  the  dead. 

The  primitive  lavishness  of  gifts  to  the  dead  lasted 
among  the  Celts  down  to  a  late  date.  Caesar  narrates: 
"Their  funerals  are  magnificent  and  costly,  considering 
their  civilisation;  and  all  that  they  think  was  dear  to 
them  when  alive  they  put  into  the  fire,  even  animals;  and 
shortly  before  this  generation  the  slaves  and  dependents 
that  they  were  considered  to  have  loved,  were  burned 
along  with  them  in  the  regular  performance  of  funeral 
rites."  3S  Pomponius  Mela  confirms  this  testimony: 
"They  burn  and  bury  along  with  the  dead  whatever  is 
of  use  to  them  when  alive :  business  accounts  and  pay- 
ments of  debts  were  passed  on  to  the  next  world,  and 
there  were  some  who  of  their  own  free  will,  cast  them- 
selves on  the  funeral  piles  of  their  relatives,  expecting 

87  Iliad,  xxiii.  166ff. 

*»  De  Bello  Gallico,  vi.  19. 


iv         INDO-EUROPEAN  CULT  OF  DEAD      133 

to  live  along  with  them."  30  These  customs  lasted  well 
down  into  Christian  times,  and  are  often  mentioned  in 
Welsh  and  Irish  chronicles.  The  literary  evidence  is 
confirmed  by  archaeology.  "Over  the  whole  Celtic  area 
a  rich  profusion  of  grave-goods  has  been  found,  con- 
sisting of  weapons,  armour,  chariots,  utensils,  ornaments, 
and  coins.  Some  of  the  interments  undoubtedly  point  to 
sacrifice  of  wife,  children,  or  slaves  at  the  grave.  Male 
and  female  skeletons  are  often  in  close  proximity,  in  one 
case  the  arm  of  the  male  encircling  the  neck  of  the  fe- 
male. In  other  cases  the  remains  of  children  are  found 
with  them.  Or,  while  the  lower  interment  is  richly  pro- 
vided with  grave-goods,  above  it  lie  irregularly  several 
skeletons,  without  grave-goods,  and  often  with  head  sep- 
arated from  the  body,  pointing  to  decapitation,  while  in 
one  case  the  arms  had  been  tied  behind  the  back."  40  In 
the  ancient  Celtic  cemetery  of  Hallstatt  525  graves  con- 
tained skeletons;  and  455,  ashes  of  the  cremated.  The 
same  sorts  of  gifts  were  found  in  both,  namely,  orna- 
ments, implements,  weapons,  and  vessels  for  food  and 
drink. 

Slavic  graves  of  the  pagan  period  disclose  the  same 
sorts  of  offerings,  and  among  the  modern  Slavs  they  have 
lasted  with  singular  tenacity.  Among  the  peasants  of 
Lithuania  and  of  Great  Russia  and  White  Russia,  it  is 
customary  to  bury  with  a  man  his  pipe  and  tobacco, 
flint  and  steel,  snuff-box  and  purse,  pocket-knife  and  a 
little  bag  of  copper  buttons;  also,  if  he  were  specially 
addicted  to  it,  a  bottle  of  vodka.  It  is  not  unusual  for 
grave-diggers  to  find  such  bottles  by  accident  when  they 
dig  in  the  vicinity  of  old  graves,  and  they  consume  the 
contents  with  avidity.  Women  receive  needles  and 
thread,  thimbles,  scissors,  mirrors,  and  toilet  articles; 
and  both  sexes  are  provided  with  a  clean  handkerchief 
tucked  into  a  pocket  in  the  shroud.     Among  the  Wends 

39  Chorographia,    iii.    19. 

40  Macculloch,   Religion  of  the  Ancient  Celts,   p.   337. 


134 


SPIRITISM  iv 


and  Kashubs,  Slavic  tribes  of  Northern  Germany,  fruit 
and  eggs  are  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  dead,  and  tobacco 
and  liquor  are  deposited  with  the  men.  As  late  as  745 
A.D.  a  Wendish  wife  was  burned  with  her  husband.  The 
Arab  historians  Mas'udi  and  Ibn  Fadhlan  record  the  old 
Slavic  custom  of  killing  wives  at  their  husbands'  graves. 
As  late  as  931  A.D.  there  is  record  of  a  girl  being  buried 
with  a  man  to  accompany  him  into  the  other  world. 

Among  the  Teutons  also  human  sacrifice  at  the  graves 
of  chieftains  was  frequent.  So  Brynhild  says:  "Make  a 
pyre  for  the  Hun,  my  husband,  and  for  them  dying  with 
him;  cover  it  with  human  blood  and  burn  me  there." 
Among  the  Norse  it  was  customary  to  burn  the  Vikings 
in  their  ships  with  their  horses  and  their  slaves. 

When  men  died  unmarried,  it  was  a  primitive  Aryan 
custom  to  provide  them  with  wives  for  the  other  world. 
Thus  the  Trojan  maiden  Polyxene  was  slain  at  the  grave 
of  Achilles.  In  later  times  in  Attica  the  loutrophoros,  or 
bridal  pitcher,  was  placed  on  the  grave  of  the  unmarried 
as  a  symbolic  representation  of  a  death-marriage.  Such 
marriages  were  still  prevalent  among  the  Slavs  in  the 
time  of  the  Arabic  historians  Mas'udi  and  Ibn  Fadhlan. 
Among  the  modern  Slavs  imitation  marriages  are  cele- 
brated in  which  a  bride  or  a  bridegroom  is  assigned  to 
one  who  has  died  unmarried;  but  these  persons  are,  of 
course,  no  longer  put  to  death,  although  it  may  be  ex- 
pected that  the  dead  will  soon  claim  them  and  they  will 
follow  their  spouses.  A  survival  of  this  custom  is  still 
found  in  Hesse  in  Germany,  where  "wreathed  girls" 
accompany  the  coffins  of  unmarried  men  to  the  grave 
and  wear  mourning  for  them  for  four  weeks.41 

The  same  tendency  which  led  to  the  modification  of 
human  sacrifice  into  symbolic  rites  led  also  to  the  com- 
mutation of  costly  gifts  into  inexpensive  substitutes.  In 
old  Attic  graves  of  the  "dipylon  period"  the  same  offer- 
ings are  found  that  are  mentioned  in  Homer:  jars  of 

41  See  O.   Schrader,   Totenhochzeit,  Jena,   1904. 


iv         INDO-EUROPEAN  CULT  OF  DEAD      135 

food  and  drink,  bones  of  sacrificed  bullocks,  pottery, 
weapons,  ornaments,  and  implements.  In  later  graves 
the  offerings  decline  steadily  in  extent  and  in  value.  In 
the  sixth  and  the  fifth  centuries  B.C.  hardly  anything  but 
decorated  vases  (lekythoi)  are  found;  and  still  later  the 
men  receive  only  a  few  vessels  of  small  value ;  the  women, 
a  few  ornaments;  and  the  children,  their  toys.  Still 
later  wreaths  of  myrtle  or  of  asphodel  took  the  place  of 
all  other  gifts.  The  same  development  took  place  in 
Rome,  where  the  primitive  costly  grave-goods  slowly  de- 
clined until  only  flowers  remained.  This  custom  passed 
over  to  the  Christian  Church,  and  is  the  origin  of  the 
modern  flowers  at  funerals. 

3.  The  Funeral-feast. — Sacrifice  to  the  dead  neces- 
sarily involved  a  sacrificial  meal  in  which  the  living  par- 
took of  the  food  and  so  communed  with  the  departed. 
Originally  the  feast  took  place  at  the  grave,  subsequently 
it  was  transferred  to  the  house  after  the  return  of  the 
mourners.  Neolithic  graves  frequently  show  traces  of 
such  feasts  in  burnt  coals  and  broken  bones.  In  Homer 
a  feast  follows  the  cremation  ceremonies.  In  later 
Greece,  "having  returned  from  the  funeral,  the  members 
of  the  family  undergo  a  religious  purification,  and  then, 
crowned  with  wreaths,  attend  the  funeral  feast  (before 
this  they  have  abstained  from  wreaths).  This  also  was 
a  part  of  the  cult  of  souls.  The  soul  of  the  deceased 
was  regarded  as  present,  as  their  host;  and  dread  of  the 
invisible  companion  gave  rise  to  the  custom  of  alluding 
to  him  only  eulogistically  during  the  feast.  The  funeral 
feast  was  a  repast  for  the  living  relatives  given  at  the 
•nouse  of  the  dead  person."  42  At  Argentiere,  Depart- 
ment des  Hautes  Alpes,  France,  it  was  recently  the  cus- 
tom to  place  a  table  upon  the  grave,  at  which  the  cure  and 
the  family  dined  after  the  funeral.  In  most  parts  of 
France  the  feast  is  now  held  at  the  house  of  the  deceased. 
In  Ille  et  Vilaine  neither  wine,  cider,  nor  liqueur  is  served 

"Rohde,  Psyche*  i.  231f. 


136  SPIRITISM  iv 

at  the  meal.  The  conversation  is  carried  on  in  a  low 
voice,  and  as  the  guests  finish  they  retire.  Among  the 
Slavic  and  the  Teutonic  peasants  of  Northern  Europe 
these  feasts  are  still  kept  up  with  great  strictness.  Of 
these  feasts  among  the  Russians  Sejn  says:  "All  the 
rest  of  the  company  return  (after  the  funeral)  to  the 
peasant's  house,  with  the  priest  at  their  head,  in  order 
to  celebrate  the  funeral  feast.  By  this  is  meant  a  com- 
memoration meal  for  the  dead  person  which  lasts  from 
two  to  four  hours."  "To  this  day  I  cherish  the  greatest 
respect  for  this  burial  feast,  at  which  rude  speaking, 
slander,  dispute,  disagreement,  strife,  wanton  jests,  and 
everything  that  usually  accompanies  gatherings  of  peas- 
ants, had  no  place.  The  large  gathering  spoke  with  re- 
straint, not  raising  their  voices,  and  the  conversation, 
whether  of  individuals  or  of  the  whole  company,  confined 
itself  to  the  deceased,  his  actions,  and  the  most  trivial 
details  of  his  life.  They  recalled  the  talk  and  instruc- 
tions of  the  dead  man,  especially  those  in  which  the  good- 
ness of  his  heart  shone  forth."  43 

4.  Funeral  Games. — Among  all  the  Aryans  it  was 
usual  to  close  the  funeral  feast  with  athletic  sports  in 
honour  of  the  dead.  Thus  at  the  funeral  of  Patroclus 
Achilles  instituted  chariot  races,  boxing,  foot  races  and 
gladiatorial  contests,  and  iEneas  instituted  similar  games 
at  the  tumulus  of  Polydorus.44  Gladiatorial  games  were 
celebrated  at  the  funerals  of  distinguished  Romans,  and 
the  funeral  of  Attila  was  accompanied  with  a  spectaculum 
admirandum.  It  has  been  suggested  that  these  contests 
are  commutations  of  original  human  sacrifice  at  the  grave, 
but  this  explanation  hardly  seems  to  cover  all  the  sports 
or  the  dances  that  occur  at  the  same  time.  A  more  prob- 
able view  is  that,  like  the  feast,  they  are  designed,  as  the 
Chinese  say,  "to  give  pleasure  to  the  meritorious  ances- 
tors." 45     In  modern  Europe  these  games  have  degener- 

«  Hastings,  Enc.   Rel.  and  Eth.,   ii.   20;   iv.  434f. 
"Iliad,  xxiii.  257ff.;  JEncid,   iii.  62ff. 
"  See  p.   53. 


iv         INDO-EUROPEAN  CULT  OF  DEAD      137 

ated  into  fights  with  cabbage  heads,  songs,  dances,  mas- 
querades, or  games  of  cards. 

/.  Cult  of  the  Dead  after  Burial. — I.  Sacrifices  of 
Food. — It  was  not  sufficient  merely  to  place  food  in  the 
grave,  supplies  must  be  provided  regularly  at  later  times 
in  order  that  the  spirits  might  consume  them.  In  India 
the  Institutes  of  Manu,  iii.  267-271,  declare:  "The  an- 
cestors of  men  are  satisfied  a  whole  month  with  sesamum, 
rice,  barley,  black  lentils  or  vetches,  water,  roots,  and 
fruit,  given  with  prescribed  ceremonies;  two  months  with 
fish,  three  months  with  venison,  four  with  mutton,  five 
with  the  flesh  of  such  birds  as  the  twice-born  may  eat,  six 
months  with  the  flesh  of  kids,  seven  with  that  of  spotted 
deer,  eight  with  that  of  the  deer  or  antelope  called  Ena, 
nine  with  that  of  the  Ruru  deer;  ten  months  are  they 
satisfied  with  the  flesh  of  wild  boars  and  wild  buffaloes, 
eleven  with  that  of  hares  and  tortoises,  a  whole  year 
with  the  milk  of  cows  and  food  made  of  that  milk;  from 
the  flesh  of  the  long-eared  white  goat  their  satisfaction 
endures  twelve  years.  The  pot  herb  Ocimum  sanctum, 
the  prawn,  the  flesh  of  a  rhinoceros  or  of  the  iron-col- 
oured kid,  honey  and  all  such  forest  grains  as  are  eaten 
by  hermits,  are  formed  for  their  satisfaction  without 
end."  According  to  this,  while  the  ancestors  require 
regular  feeding,  a  little  food  goes  a  long  way  with  them. 
This  is  the  general  view  of  all  the  Aryans.  Food  must 
not  be  remitted,  but  it  may  be  given  in  small  quantities 
at  long  intervals.  The  Avesta  prescribes  regular  offer- 
ings of  food  to  the  fravashis,  and  the  custom  lasted  in 
Persia  well  down  into  the  Middle  Ages.  Odysseus  sacri- 
fices to  the  shades  black  cattle  and  sheep,  milk  and  honey, 
wine,  water  and  meal.46  Black  animals  were  regarded 
by  the  Greeks  and  Romans  as  belonging  to  the  dark  pow- 
ers of  the  Underworld.  Swine  also  that  rooted  in  the 
ground  were  regarded  as  proper  sacrifices  to  the  chthonic 
deities.     In  later  times  animal  sacrifices  to  the  dead  were 

"Odyssey,  xi.  23ff.;   cf.  x.  517-520. 


138  SPIRITISM  iv 

discontinued,  and  only  libations  of  milk,  honey,  wine,  and 
water  were  made  to  them. 

Honey  appears  in  all  parts  of  the  Aryan  world  as  a 
food  sacred  to  the  dead.  It  was  either  offered  pure,  or 
was  mixed  with  rice  or  barley  water  to  form  mead.  In 
India  the  pitaras,  "tormented  with  hunger  and  making 
known  their  own  sins,  demand  rice-soup  mixed  with  honey 
from  their  sons  and  grandsons."  This  corresponds  with 
the  kanunu,  a  mead  of  barley  water  and  honey,  that  is 
served  to  the  ancestors  by  the  peasants  of  White  Russia. 
In  both  the  Greek  and  the  Roman  cults  of  the  dead  honey 
appears  as  an  essential  ingredient. 

Another  universal  article  of  food  for  the  dead  is  little 
cakes  or  wafers.  In  India  these  appear  as  the  pinda, 
or  rice  balls,  that  are  offered  to  the  ancestors.  The  term 
sapinda,  'cake  companion,'  has  come  to  be  the  technical 
term  for  one  upon  whom  devolves  the  duty  of  ancestor- 
worship.  In  Greece  the  melitontta,  or  honey  cakes,  were 
given  to  the  dead,  and  were  popularly  believed  to  appease 
the  ferocity  of  Kerberos,  the  watch-dog  of  Hades.47 
These  cakes  still  survive  among  the  Lithuanian  and 
Russian  peasants  as  the  klecki,  or  'wafers,'  that  form  an 
essential  part  of  every  funeral  feast  or  commemorative 
banquet.  "To  eat  wafers"  is  the  technical  expression 
for  "celebrate  funeral  rites,"  and  of  a  person  who  is  so 
sick  that  his  recovery  is  not  expected  they  say:  "He 
will  very  soon  have  to  enjoy  cakes." 

Beans  also  were  sacred  to  the  dead  in  all  parts  of  the 
Aryan  world.  This  is  the  reason  for  their  prohibition 
as  ordinary  food  in  the  Vedas.  They  were  a  favourite 
offering  to  the  dead  in  ancient  Greece,  and  for  this  reason 
were  forbidden  to  his  followers  by  Pythagoras.  Pliny 
says  that  beans  are  used  in  sacrificing  to  the  dead  because 
the  souls  of  the  dead  are  in  them,  and  Ovid  says  that 
the  witch  put  beans  into  her  mouth  when  she  tried  to 
call  up  spirits.     At  the  feast  of  the  Lemuria  the  Roman 

17  Rohde,   Psyche*   i.   p.    30S. 


iv         INDO-EUROPEAN  CULT  OF  DEAD      139 

householder  cast  black  beans  behind  him  as  an  offering 
to  the  manes,  and  the  Flamen  Dialis  was  forbidden  to 
eat,  or  even  to  mention  beans,  because  of  their  connection 
with  the  shades.  In  modern  Polish  Russia  we  are  told: 
"The  foods  at  the  commemoration  feasts  consist  of  beans 
and  peas  which  are  cooked  in  honey-water." 

As  libations  for  the  dead  we  find  water  and  milk  among 
all  the  Indo-Europeans.  Fermented  liquors  also  were 
in  universal  use,  the  material  varying  according  to  the 
region.  In  India  the  soma  was  used,  in  Persia  the  cor- 
responding haoma,  in  Greece  and  Italy  wine,  and  among 
the  Slavs  and  the  Teutons  beer,  mead,  and,  later,  distilled 
spirits. 

Human  sacrifice  to  the  dead  at  other  times  than  at 
burial  or  cremation  appears  among  the  Romans  in  the 
devotio,  or  ban,  which  bears  a  close  resemblance  to  the 
Semitic  herem.48  In  this  a  person  is  surrendered  to  the 
di  manes  in  order  that  a  victory  may  be  won  over  enemies. 
Thus  in  340  B.C.,  at  the  battle  of  Vesuvius,  Decius  the 
elder  devoted  himself  to  the  di  manes  for  death  in  order 
that  the  Roman  army  might  be  victorious.  The  same 
thing  was  done  by  his  son  Decius  in  295  B.C.  at  the  battle 
of  Sentinum,  and  by  his  grandson  Decius  in  279  B.C. 
at  the  battle  of  Asculum.49  Of  the  Celts  also  Caesar 
records  50  that  those  afflicted  with  disease,  or  engaged  in 
battle  or  danger,  offer  human  victims,  or  vow  to  do  so, 
because  unless  man's  life  be  given  for  man's  life,  the 
divinity  of  the  gods  cannot  be  appeased.  After  a  defeat, 
which  showed  the  gods  to  be  hostile,  the  wounded  or 
feeble  were  slain,  or  warriors  committed  suicide  as  a 
voluntary  sacrifice,  or  a  general  devoted  himself  after 
the  manner  of  Decius.51  There  is  little  doubt  that  the 
gods  to  whom  these  sacrifices  were  offered  were  the  same 
as  the  di  manes  to  whom  the  Roman  devotio  was  offered. 

*8Ci.    Judges,    xi.    30ff. 

^Livy,    viii.    6,    8-16;    9,    1-11. 

10  De   Bello   Gallico,    vi.    16. 

61  Diodorus  Siculus,  xxii,  9;  C.  Jullian,  Hist,  de  la  Gaule,  ii.   158. 


140  SPIRITISM  iv 

Among  the  Celts  it  was  also  customary  to  bring  prisoners 
of  war  to  the  graves  of  ancient  chieftains,  and  there 
behead  them  and  suspend  the  heads  on  poles  round  about 
the  tumulus.52 

2.  Places  of  Sacrifice  to  the  Dead. — The  original 
and  most  natural  place  of  sacrifice  was  at  the  grave  where 
the  bodies  or  the  ashes  of  the  dead  were  buried.  Among 
the  Greeks  and  the  Romans  a  regular  cult  was  kept  up 
at  graves,  and  sacrifices  and  libations  were  offered  upon 
them.  At  Tronis  in  Phocis  a  channel  led  down  into  the 
grave  of  the  hero,  and  daily  offerings  of  sacrificial  blood 
and  other  libations  were  poured  down  it.53  Many  Greek 
and  Roman  tombs  have  been  found  containing  similar 
tubes  through  which  liquids  may  be  sent  down  to  the 
dead.  These  posthumous  offerings  on  the  grave  have 
lasted  in  one  form  or  another  in  all  parts  of  Europe  down 
to  the  present  time.  Sometimes  there  is  nothing  more 
than  flowers  or  wreaths,  at  other  times  offerings  of  food 
continue  to  be  made.  The  Celts  of  Brittany  put  cakes 
and  sweetmeats  on  graves,  and  even  in  the  great  ceme- 
teries of  modern  Paris  one  may  see  cakes  on  the  graves 
on  All  Saints  day.  Amelineau,  the  Egyptologist,  relates 
that  he  knew  a  widow  at  Chateaudun  who  placed  a  cup 
of  chocolate  on  her  husband's  grave  every  day  for  over 
a  year  after  his  death.  In  Bulgaria  wine  and  water  are 
poured  on  the  grave  for  three  days  after  the  interment. 
On  the  fortieth  day  a  woman  goes  with  a  priest,  carrying 
cakes  and  wine,  and  the  priest  digs  a  hole  in  the  grave 
and  buries  the  food  and  pours  the  wine  upon  it.  On  all 
anniversaries  wine  and  water  are  poured  out  as  libations, 
and  widows  have  been  known  to  pour  libations  of  coffee 
daily  into  a  hole  in  the  mound  when  their  husbands  were 
particularly  fond  of  this  beverage.  In  Croatia  bread, 
eggs,  and  apples  are  laid  on  the  grave  for  a  number  of 
days  after  burial.  Of  the  peasants  of  White  Russia 
I 

52  Macculloch,  Religion  of  the  Ancient  Celts,  pp.   165,  234f. 
08  Pausanias,    x.    4,    7. 


iv         INDO-EUROPEAN  CULT  OF  DEAD      141 

Sejn  says:  "At  the  close  of  the  banquet  they  all  repair 
to  the  burying-ground,  taking  with  them  vodka,  "bliny," 
and  barley.  There  each  family  prays  at  the  graves  of  its 
relatives  for  the  peace  of  their  souls.  Then  they  eat  and 
drink,  pouring  out  a  little  vodka  on  the  grave  and  throw- 
ing some  morsels  from  each  dish  on  it." 

A  ritual  substitute  for  the  grave  as  a  place  of  sacrifice 
was  the  trench.  In  ancient  India  three  trenches  were 
dug,  one  for  each  of  the  three  immediate  forefathers; 
on  these  grass  was  scattered,  and  cakes  were  spread  as  an 
offering.  In  Greece  sacrifices  to  the  dead  were  cast  into 
the  bothros,  or  pit.  Thus  in  the  Odyssey,  x'l.  25,  et  al., 
Odysseus  digs  such  a  trench  before  sacrificing  to  the 
shades.  This  method  of  sacrifice  which  was  used  only 
for  chthonic  deities  was  sharply  distinguished  from  the 
ritual  of  sacrifice  to  Olympian  gods.  A  similar  institution 
among  the  Romans  was  the  mundus,  or  sacrificial  trench, 
which  was  located  in  the  centre  of  every  city.  It  bore 
the  same  relation  to  the  inferi  as  the  altar  bore  to  the 
supcri.5i 

A  third  seat  of  the  cult  of  the  dead  was  at  the  family 
hearth.  This  may  have  been  a  survival  of  primitive 
burial  in  the  house,  or  it  may  have  been  due  to  the  feeling 
that  the  spirits  would  naturally  return  to  the  scenes 
familiar  to  them  in  life.  At  family  meals  the  custom 
was  universal  to  scatter  food  and  drink  on  the  table  for 
the  ancestors,  and  to  place  the  fragments  that  were  left 
in  jars  to  be  consumed  by  them  later.  Bits  that  fell  to 
the  floor  were  left  for  the  ghosts  of  those  who  had  no 
relatives.  This  practice  is  attested  in  Greece  by  Diog. 
Laert.  viii.  34:  "Aristophanes  declares  that  the  things 
that  drop  from  the  table  belong  to  the  heroes,  saying 
that  the  heroes  get  nothing  except  what  falls  from  the 
tables";  and  by  Athenseus,  x.  427  e,  "For  the  departed 
their  friends  set  aside  the  fragments  of  food  that  fall 
from  the  tables."     The  Celts  of  Brittany  to  the  present 

64  See  above   p.    105. 


i42  SPIRITISM  iv 

day  build  up  the  fire  and  leave  the  fragments  of  their 
supper  on  the  table  for  the  souls  of  their  relatives  who 
come  to  visit  them  during  the  night.  Of  the  Lithuanians 
and  Prussians  Menecius  says:  "If  by  chance  anything 
falls  from  the  table  to  the  ground,  they  do  not  pick  this 
up  but  leave  it,  as  they  say,  as  food  for  the  forsaken  souls 
who  have  neither  relatives  nor  friends  from  whom  they 
can  receive  entertainment."  Similarly  of  the  White  Rus- 
sians Sejn  says:  "If  at  the  time  of  the  banquet  any  part 
of  the  food  falls  on  the  seat  or  on  the  floor,  they  dare 
not  lift  it  up.  'That,'  they  say,  'someone  will  eat.'  " 
"After  they  have  prayed  at  the  grave,  they  all  separate 
and  go  to  their  homes,  where  they  seat  themselves  once 
more  at  the  table,  on  which  the  wives  place  pancakes 
and  mead.  They  throw  morsels  of  the  pancakes  into 
the  mead.  Each  member  of  the  family  (with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  children)  must  invariably  sup  three  spoonfuls 
of  this  dish.  Some  of  this  mixture  they  leave  intention- 
ally in  a  soup-bowl  for  the  'grandfathers.'  After  the 
pancakes  they  eat  the  other  prepared  courses.  When 
they  have  supped  and  prayed  to  God,  they  lie  down  to 
sleep,  placing  the  remains  of  the  mixture  on  the  window 
sills.  The  remains  of  the  other  foods  they  divide  out 
into  small  dishes,  which  in  the  same  way  are  placed  here 
and  there  beside  the  window.  Bread  and  spoons  are  left 
on  the  table  the  whole  night.  The  doors  in  the  peasants' 
rooms  are  not  locked  during  this  night,  but  are  left  a 
little  ajar,  so  that  the  dead  may  come  in."  55 

3.  Times  of  Sacrifice  to  the  Dead. — Among  all  the 
Aryans  special  importance  is  attached  to  the  third,  sixth, 
and  ninth  days  after  interment.  The  three-days  interval 
between  these  commemorations  corresponds  to  the  three 
days  that  usually  elapse  between  death  and  burial. 
Menecius  records  that  the  heathen  Prussians  and  Lith- 
uanians celebrated  feasts  for  the  dead  on  the  third,  sixth, 
and  ninth  day  after  the  funeral.    Sejn  says  of  the  peasants 

"Hastings,  Enc.   Rel.  and  Etk.,  ii.   p.   27. 


iv        INDO-EUROPEAN  CULT  OF  DEAD      143 

of  White  Russia:  "Special  feasts  are  celebrated,  in  the 
circle  of  the  family  and  near  relatives,  for  each  individual 
who  has  died  in  the  course  of  the  year;  and  they  take 
place  at  stated  intervals,  though  not  on  the  same  days 
or  in  the  same  months,  but  on  the  third,  sixth,  ninth, 
twentieth,  and  fortieth  days,  reckoning  from  the  day  of 
the  burial,  during  a  period  of  six  months,  and  periodically 
thereafter  in  the  course  of  the  year  till  the  date  of  the 
death.  These  commemoration  feasts  take  place  without 
the  co-operation  or  the  blessing  of  the  Church.  They 
are  a  relic  of  primitive  pre-Christian  customs."  These 
reappear  in  Greece  as  the  rplra  and  evara  the  third  and 
ninth  days  after  burial,  on  which  a  meal  was  spread  upon 
the  grave.  The  belief  was  general  among  the  Greeks 
that  the  restless  ghosts  of  the  unburied,  those  who  had 
died  untimely  deaths,  and  the  unmarried,  appeared  to 
the  living  on  the  ninth  day  after  death,  i.e.,  the  sixth 
after  the  funeral,  if  this  had  occurred.56  In  Rome  also 
we  find  a  celebration  on  the  third  day,  and  a  specially 
important  one  on  the  ninth  day,  the  novendialis.57  The 
attendance  of  members  of  the  family  during  these  nine 
days  of  mourning  was  considered  so  important  that  mili- 
tary conscripts  were  exempted  from  service,  and  even 
high  officials  were  excused  from  their  duties.  The  rites 
ceased  on  the  ninth  day  with  offerings  of  food  to  the 
dead  and  a  banquet,  the  cena  no'vendialis;  and  in  the  case 
of  the  wealthy,  with  funeral  games,  the  ludi  novendiales. 
When  these  ceremonies  were  over  the  manes  were  re- 
garded as  safely  domiciled  in  Orcus,  and  not  likely  to 
trouble  the  living  by  their  return. 

In  India  the  nine-day  celebration  for  the  dead  has  been 
rounded  off  into  a  ten-day  feast,  the  so-called  Ekoddishta 
Sraddha,  which  immediately  follows  the  cremation.  At 
the  time  of  the  cremation  libations  of  water  are  poured 
out  to  alleviate  the  heat  and  extreme  thirst  of  the  spirits 

"Rohde,  Psyche*  i.   p.   232;   ii.  p.   392. 
w  Vergil,  Mneii,  v.  46f.,  105. 


i44  SPIRITISM  iv 

whose  bodies  are  being  consumed.  The  first  night  after 
the  cremation  the  nearest  relatives  make  a  cake  of  three 
handfuls  of  boiled  rice,  mixed  with  fruits  of  various 
sorts,  honey,  milk,  butter,  and  present  this  to  the  de- 
ceased, saying,  "May  this  first  funeral  cake,  which  shall 
restore  thy  head,  be  acceptable  unto  thee."  "During  ten 
days  funeral  cakes,  together  with  libations  of  water  and 
tila,  must  be  offered,  as  on  the  first  day,  augmenting, 
however,  the  number  each  time,  so  that  ten  cakes,  and 
as  many  libations  of  water  and  tila  be  offered  on  the  tenth 
day,  with  this  further  difference,  that  the  address  varies 
each  time.  On  the  second  day  the  prayer  is,  'May  this 
second  cake,  which  shall  restore  thy  ears,  eyes,  and  nose, 
be  acceptable.'  On  the  third  day,  'this  third  cake,  which 
shall  restore  thy  throat,  arms,  and  breast.'  On  the  fourth, 
'thy  navel  and  organs  of  excretion' ;  on  the  fifth,  'thy 
knees,  legs,  and  feet' ;  on  the  sixth,  'all  thy  vitals' ;  on 
the  seventh,  'all  thy  veins' ;  on  the  eighth,  'thy  teeth, 
nails,  and  hair';  on  the  ninth,  'thy  manly  strength';  on 
the  tenth,  'may  this  tenth  cake,  which  shall  fully  satisfy 
the  hunger  and  thirst  of  thy  renewed  body,  be  acceptable 
to  thee.'  "  58  During  this  ten-day  period  lights  are  kept 
burning  to  light  the  spirit  on  its  journey  to  the  other 
world.  The  purpose  of  these  rites  is  to  provide  the  soul 
with  a  new  body  that  shall  fit  it  to  enter  the  realm  of  the 
pitaras.  Without  this  it  will  continue  to  haunt  its  former 
home  as  an  unhappy  preta.59  This  doctrine  of  the  "ele- 
vation of  the  fathers"  appears  as  early  as  the  Atharva 
Veda.  By  these  masses  for  the  repose  of  their  souls  the 
dead  secure  admission  to  the  heaven  of  Yama  that  they 
could  not  gain  in  any  other  way. 

The  Iranian  equivalent  of  these  ceremonies  is  the 
dfringdn,  or  'homage,'  which  is  rendered  the  dead  after 
exposure.  Cakes  of  meat  and  of  flour  are  presented  and 
priests  perform  ceremonies  for  the  repose  of  their  souls. 

58  Colebrooke,  Asiatic  Researches,  vii.   p.   247. 

66  For  similar  ideas  among  the  Egyptians  see  p.   166. 


iv         INDO-EUROPEAN  CULT  OF  DEAD      145 

Friends  and  the  poor  are  invited  to  share  in  the  feast. 
This  celebration  has  lasted  among  the  Armenians  down 
to  the  present  time.  Among  the  Teutons  there  are  traces 
of  sacrifice  to  the  dead  on  the  third  and  seventh  days 
after  burial. 

Besides  the  nine-day  offerings  that  immediately  fol- 
lowed interment  or  cremation  later  offerings  were  made 
on  fixed  dates.  Among  the  Indians,  Greeks,  Romans, 
and  Teutons  the  thirtieth  day  after  burial  was  such  a 
time  of  sacrifice  to  the  manes.  Among  the  Lithuanians 
the  thirtieth  day  marks  the  conclusion  of  the  widow's 
period  of  mourning.  Among  the  White  Russians,  Lith- 
uanians and  Prussians  the  twentieth  and  fortieth  days 
take  the  place  of  the  thirtieth  as  days  of  commemoration. 
Perhaps  we  may  suppose  that  the  primitive  Aryan  custom 
was  to  follow  the  nine  days  of  making  a  new  body  for 
the  deceased  with  a  feast  on  the  tenth  day,  and  then 
every  succeeding  tenth  day  until  the  end  of  the  month. 
After  this  the  commemoration  occurred  monthly  until  the 
end  of  the  year.  The  anniversary  of  burial  (or  of  death) 
wras  a  great  occasion  among  all  the  Aryans,  that  was 
celebrated  each  year  with  offerings  to  the  dead  and  a 
funeral  feast.  The  observance  of  the  birthday  of  the 
deceased  was  a  Greek  innovation. 

In  addition  to  these  private  family  celebrations  there 
were  public,  national  sacred  seasons  of  the  dead.  In 
Rome  the  nine  dies  parentales  were  observed  from  the 
thirteenth  to  the  twenty-first  of  February.  During  these 
days  tombs  were  repaired  and  ornamented,  food  was 
spread  out  for  the  dead,  the  temples  of  the  celestial  gods 
were  closed,  marriages  might  not  be  contracted,  and 
officials  laid  aside  their  insignia  of  office.  The  ninth 
day  was  known  as  Feralia  (from  Dh'vesalia,  'feast  of 
ghosts')  and  was  the  holiest  of  all.  The  Greek  equiva- 
lent was  the  Anthesteria  festival,  which  also  occurred  in 
February.  The  name  is  plausibly  connected  etymolog- 
ically  with  Latin  Inferi,  'subterranean  deities' ;  and  the 


146  SPIRITISM  iv 

primitive  meaning  of  the  feast  is  shown  by  the  Greek 
proverb,  "Out  of  doors!  ye  keres  (shades);  it  is  no 
longer  Anthesteria."  This  shows  that  the  Anthesteria, 
like  the  Feralia,  was  originally  a  season  of  public  placa- 
tion  of  ancestors.60  The  Hindu  general  Sraddha  in 
honour  of  the  manes  is  of  similar  origin.  The  Iranian 
counterpart  of  this  celebration  is  the  Hamaspathmaedaya 
feast  which  lasts  from  March  tenth  to  the  twentieth. 

The  Roman  Lemuria  was  observed  on  May  ninth, 
eleventh,  and  thirteenth.  Lemures  equal  larva,  'ghosts,' 
and  the  Lemuria  are  the  days  when  the  ghosts  walk  forth 
and  need  to  be  appeased.  On  these  days,  according  to 
Ovid,61  the  house-father  passed  through  the  house  bare- 
footed at  midnight,  casting  black  beans  behind  him,  and 
saying  nine  times,  "These  I  give,  and  with  these  I  redeem 
myself  and  my  family."  Then  he  clashed  cymbals,  and 
said  nine  times,  "Manes  exite  paterni,  Go  forth  ye  spirits 
of  my  forefathers."  The  similarity  of  the  formula  to 
that  used  by  the  Greeks  at  the  Anthesteria  is  noteworthy. 

The  Roman  Larentalia  was  observed  on  the  twenty- 
third  of  December.  The  lares  were  ancestors  regarded 
as  protecting  spirits.  The  name  is  connected  etymolog- 
ically  with  larva,  'ghost.'  The  festival  was  a  sort  of 
All  Souls'  Day  in  which  offerings  were  made  to  all  the 
dead,  particularly  to  those  who  had  no  relatives  to  pro- 
vide for  them.  This  corresponds  to  a  general  autumnal 
propitiation  of  the  manes  in  India  known  as  the  Astaka 
festival.  The  Iranian  equivalent  was  Farvardigan,  a 
propitiation  of  all  the  dead,  that  was  kept  on  the  last 
ten  days  of  the  year,  and  included  the  five  intercalary 
days  that  were  necessary  to  equalise  the  civil  year  of  360 
days  with  the  solar  year.  In  the  opinion  of  several  Old 
Testament  scholars  this  is  the  origin  of  the  Jewish  feast 
of  Purim.62 

00  See  Harrison,  Prolegomena  to   the   Study   of  Greek  Religion,  chap.   ii. 

61  Fasti,   v.   419ff. 

62  See  L.  B.  Paton,  Esther,  International  Critical  Commentary,  pp.  85-87,  91. 


iv        INDO-EUROPEAN  CULT  OF  DEAD      147 

The  Celtic  Samhain  feast  was  also  held  at  the  winter 
solstice.  The  time  when  vegetation  lay  in  the  sleep  of 
death  seemed  most  appropriate  for  the  commemoration 
of  spirits  of  the  dead.  Food  was  laid  out  for  all  the 
hungry  spirits,  and  bonfires  were  kindled  to  warm  them. 
These  customs  still  survive  in  Ireland  and  in  Brittany. 
The  yule-log  is  probably  a  survival  of  the  ancient  fire 
kindled  on  the  hearth  in  honour  of  the  ancestral  spirits.63 

This  All  Souls'  festival  has  survived  in  a  peculiarly 
primitive  form  among  the  Slavs.  It  is  observed  in  No- 
vember. "At  this  feast  the  dead  are  invited  to  come 
forth  from  their  mounds  to  a  bath  and  a  banquet.  Chairs, 
napkins,  and  garments  are  provided  for  all  that  are 
summoned  in  a  cottage  that  is  selected  for  the  purpose. 
The  table  is  loaded  with  food  and  drink.  Returning 
to  their  own  houses,  they  celebrate  a  three-day  banquet, 
after  which  they  leave  all  the  relics  of  the  food  and  the 
drink  at  the  tombs,  and  bid  the  shades  farewell."  "The 
feast  is  a  banquet  to  which  they  invite  the  god  Ezagulis, 
saying,  'Come  with  the  dead  to  eat  our  dainties.'  ' 
"Vielona,  god  of  the  dead,  to  whom  an  oblation  is  then 
offered,  they  entertain  with  the  dead.  They  are  accus- 
tomed to  give  them  fried  cakes  cut  a  little  in  four  places 
opposite  to  one  another.  These  they  call  'wafers  of 
which  Vielona  is  very  fond.'  "  64  It  is  probable  that  the 
ancient  Teutons  also  had  a  general  feast  of  the  dead  at 
Yule-tide.  These  various  forms  of  the  Larentalia  have 
been  transformed  by  the  Church  into  All  Saints'  and  All 
Souls'  Days,  which  fall  on  November  first  and  second. 
They  have  been  removed  from  the  winter  solstice  in 
order  to  avoid  conflict  with  Christmas.  Popular  super- 
stitions about  the  ghosts  coming  forth  on  Halloween  are 
survivals  of  ancient  pagan  ideas  in  regard  to  the  placating 
of  the  spirits  at  the  winter  festival. 

g.     Prayer  to  the  Dead. — Invocation  of  the  ancestors 

*3  Macculloch,   Religion   of   the  Ancient   Celts,    pp.    169£. 
**  Lasicius,  De  Diis  Samagitarum,  pp.  48-51, 


148  SPIRITISM  iv 

accompanied  every  act  of  homage  done  to  them.  The 
lament  addressed  to  the  dead  is  such  an  invocation,  and 
formed  a  regular  part  of  the  mortuary  ritual.65  During 
the  funeral  ceremonies  the  dead  man  was  continually 
addressed,  and  his  descendants  explained  what  they  were 
doing  for  him.  Thus  while  the  body  was  being  cremated, 
and  the  libation  of  water  was  being  made,  the  Hindu  said, 
"May  this  oblation  reach  thee."  With  each  offering  that 
was  presented  during  the  ten  days  that  followed  crema- 
tion he  said,  "May  this  be  acceptable  unto  thee."  66 

Among  all  the  Aryans  it  was  customary  to  give  the 
ancestors  a  solemn  invitation  to  be  present  at  the  com- 
memorative feasts  in  their  honour.  In  India,  after 
offering  the  pinda,  or  cake,  the  descendant  said:  "May 
our  progenitors,  who  eat  the  moon  plant,  who  are  sancti- 
fied by  holy  fires,  come  by  paths  which  gods  travel. 
Satisfied  with  ancestral  food  at  this  solemn  sacrifice, 
may  they  applaud  and  guard  us."  "Ye  pitaras,  may  this 
be  savoury  to  your  taste,  may  each  one  enjoy  his  share." 
Similarly  in  the  Iranian  cult  the  fravashis  are  invited  to 
attend  the  feasts  that  are  celebrated  in  their  honour: 
"We  invoke  the  souls  of  the  dead,  the  fravashis  of  the 
righteous,  the  fravashis  of  all  our  kinsmen  that  have  died 
in  this  house,  the  fravashis  of  men  and  women,  of  both 
sexes  we  invoke."  67  The  same  invocation  existed  among 
the  pagan  Lithuanians.  Menecius  records:  "They  in- 
vite the  spirit  of  the  dead  man  to  these  feasts  by  praying 
before  the  door."  The  peasants  of  White  Russia  still 
entreat  the  forefathers  to  be  present  at  the  memorial 
feasts,  saying, 

"Ye  sacred  grandfathers,  we  call  you; 
Ye  sacred  grandfathers,  come  to  us! 
Here  is  all  that  God  has  given. 
Ye  sacred  grandfathers,  we  implore  you, 
Come,  fly  to  us." 

MSee  p.  13. 

••  See  p.   144. 

"  Avesta,  Yasna,  xxvi.   7. 


iv         INDO-EUROPEAN  CULT  OF  DEAD      149 

While  present  at  the  feast,  the  ancestors  were  en- 
treated to  grant  all  sorts  of  material  blessings  to  their 
descendants.  Thus  in  the  Rig  Veda  the  manes  are  in- 
voked: "O  fathers,  may  the  sky-people  grant  us  life; 
may  we  follow  the  course  of  the  living!"  "Come  hither 
with  blessings,  O  fathers,  may  they  come  hither,  hear  us, 
address  us  and  bless  us.  .  .  .  Do  not  injure  us  for  what- 
ever impiety  we  may  as  men  have  committed!"  "Hom- 
age to  you,  O  fathers;  give  us  a  house,  ye  fathers!" 
"May  we  have,  ye  fathers,  wherewith  to  offer  you!" 
In  the  Yashts  of  the  later  Avesta  there  is  a  voluminous 
collection  of  prayers  to  the  fravashis  for  all  sorts  of 
blessings.  In  Attica  people  prayed  to  the  ancestors  at 
the  time  of  a  marriage  for  blessings  upon  the  young 
couple  and  the  gift  of  children.  Of  the  White  Russians 
Sejn  says:  "On  every  possible  occasion  the  peasant  ex- 
presses his  worshipful  remembrance  of  his  'grand- 
fathers.' He  does  so  in  his  daily  prayer,  in  conversation 
in  the  family  and  in  company,  as  well  as  on  the  different 
festive  occasions.  There  are,  too,  weighty  considerations 
which  compel  him  to  regard  this  as  his  duty.  He  is  per- 
suaded that  all  good  fortune  on  the  farm  and  in  life  is 
produced  by  the  continuous  exertions  of  his  ancestors, 
and  is  sustained  by  means  of  their  blessings  and  their 
prayers  to  the  Supreme  Being  (the  latter  is  a  modern 
idea)."68 

Still  another  form  of  prayer  found  among  all  the 
Aryans  is  the  request  to  the  ancestors  to  depart  after 
they  have  partaken  of  the  funeral  feast.  In  India  after 
the  presentation  of  the  cakes  the  descendant  says: 
"Depart,  ye  lovely  pitaras,  to  your  old  mysterious  ways, 
give  us  riches  and  good  fortune,  grant  us  abundant  pos- 
session in  men."  In  Greece  the  ancient  formula  was 
"Qvpat;e,  KTJpes,  ovk  It,  'AvdearripLa"  "Be  off,  ye  spirits,  the 
feast  of  the  dead  is  over."  In  Italy  at  the  conclusion 
of  the  Lemuria  the   householder  said:      "Manes  exite 

**  See  above  p.  141. 


i5o  SPIRITISM  iv 

paterni,  Depart,  ye  ancestral  shades."  Of  the  pagan 
Lithuanians  Menecius  records:  "After  the  feast  is  over 
the  ministrant  rises  from  the  table  and  sweeps  the  house 
with  a  broom,  the  souls  of  the  dead  he  drives  out  like 
chickens  with  the  dust,  and  he  intreats  them,  saying, 
'Beloved  spirits,  you  have  eaten  and  drunk,  now  go  out 
of  doors,  go  out  of  doors.'  "  Similarly  the  modern 
White  Russians,  at  the  close  of  the  memorial  banquets, 
politely  dismiss  their  forefathers,  saying: 

"Ye  sacred  grandfathers,  ye  have  flown  hither, 
Ye  have  eaten  and  drunk, 
Now  fly  away  home  again! 
Tell  us,  do  you  wish  anything  more? 
But  better  is  it  that  you  fly  heavenwards. 
Akysu,  Akysul" 

The  last  is  a  noise  made  by  the  peasants  to  drive  away 
fowls.  This  curious  entreaty  to  depart  is  a  survival  from 
very  ancient  times  when  the  dead  were  more  feared  than 
loved,  and  when  the  feasts  in  their  honour  were  intended 
rather  to  placate  them  than  to  cultivate  fellowship  with 
them. 

Necromancy,  or  the  calling  up  of  the  dead  by  magical 
arts  in  order  to  obtain  their  advice  or  aid  or  to  learn  the 
future  from  them,  does  not  seem  to  have  been  a  primitive 
Aryan  institution.  The  early  Aryans  were  too  afraid  of 
the  dead  to  wish  to  encounter  them  more  than  was  neces- 
sary. In  Classical  times,  however,  necromancy  invaded 
the  Graeco-Roman  world  from  the  Semitic  Orient.69 
The  eleventh  book  of  the  Odyssey,  which  is  commonly 
regarded  as  a  late  addition  to  the  Homeric  cycle,  gives 
an  elaborate  account  of  the  methods  by  which  Odysseus 
called  up  the  ghosts  of  Elpenor,  of  his  mother,  Anticleia, 
of  Tiresias,  the  Theban  seer,  of  Agamemnon,  Achilles, 
and  numerous  other  illustrious  dead,  who  foretold  the 
future  and  advised  him  in  regard  to  his  voyage.     At  all 

"See  pp.  210,  231,  256. 


iv        INDO-EUROPEAN  CULT  OF  DEAD     151 

of  the  supposed  entrances  to  the  Underworld  in  Greek 
lands  psychomancy,  or  evocation  of  the  dead,  was  prac- 
tised alongside  of  the  cultivation  of  dream  oracles. 
There  were  psychagogues  also  who  professed  to  be  able 
to  call  up  the  spirits  in  other  places  besides  these  sanctu- 
aries. Euripides,  Alcestis,  H3of.,  alludes  to  such  arts. 
Lucian  in  the  Philopseudes  gives  a  long  list  of  stories  of 
necromancy.70  These  narratives  bear  the  closest  resem- 
blance to  the  Babylonian  evocation  of  the  ghost  of 
Enkidu  by  Gilgamesh,  and  to  the  raising  of  the  ghost  of 
Samuel  by  the  Witch  of  Endor. 

That  psychomancy  was  not  a  primitive  Roman  insti- 
tution is  shown  by  the  fact  that  it  was  regarded  with 
strong  disapproval  by  the  Government  as  a  menace  to 
the  well-being  of  the  State.  The  worst  thing  that  Cicero 
could  say  of  Vatinius  was  that  he  practised  strange  for- 
eign rites,  sacrificing  boys  to  the  shades  in  order  that  he 
might  call  them  up  and  inquire  of  them.  Piso  was  accused 
of  having  buried  human  bodies  under  his  house  which  he 
had  sacrificed  in  order  to  bring  back  the  dead.  Others 
were  accused  of  evoking  the  spirits  by  the  sacrifice  of  a 
cock,  or  by  the  chanting  of  hymns.  Horace  has  left  a 
vivid  description  of  the  way  in  which  two  witches  prac- 
tised necromancy  in  a  cemetery  on  the  Esquiline.  At  the 
new  moon  they  crept  in  barefoot  with  their  robes  tucked 
up  and  their  hair  flowing.  They  gathered  bones  and 
poisonous  plants.  They  scooped  a  sacrificial  trench  in 
the  ground  with  their  nails,  rent  a  black  lamb  in  pieces 
with  their  teeth,  and  let  the  blood  fall  into  the  trench. 
Their  cries  of  invocation  frightened  the  neighbours.  The 
ghosts  then  came  to  drink  the  blood  and  were  interro- 
gated by  the  witches.  It  is  clear  that  we  are  dealing 
here  with  foreign  arts  of  Oriental  origin  that  found  their 
way  into  Rome  in  the  days  of  her  decline. 

70  See  Rohde,  Psyche*  i.  37,  213;  ii.  87,  363ff.     See  above  p.  88. 


CHAPTER  V 

SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT 

a.  Sources  of  Information. — Our  knowledge  of  the 
beliefs  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  in  regard  to  the  dead  is 
derived  chiefly  from  archaeological  remains,  such  as 
tombs  and  temples,  inscriptions  and  papyri.  Excavations 
have  disclosed  the  fact,  that  as  early  as  5000  B.C.  Egypt 
was  already  inhabited  by  the  same  race  that  occupied  it 
in  later  times,  and  that  the  main  features  of  its  civilization 
were  already  established.  The  Sothic  astronomical  cycle, 
marked  by  the  heliacal  rising  of  Sirius,  was  probably  al- 
ready instituted  in  the  year  4241  B.  C.  This  was  eight 
centuries  before  Menes,  the  first  king  of  Manetho's 
first  dynasty.  Since  1894  many  remains  of  the  pre- 
dynastic  period  have  been  found  in  Upper  Egypt,  that 
carry  us  back  certainly  into  the  fifth  millennium  B.C. 

The  Thinite  kings  of  Manetho's  first  and  second 
dynasties  (3400-2980  B.C.),  which  were  formerly  sup- 
posed to  be  mythical,  are  now  known  to  be  historical. 
Objects  bearing  their  names  have  been  found  in  various 
parts  of  Upper  Egypt,  their  inscriptions  are  carved  on 
the  rocks  of  the  traditional  Sinai,  and  the  tombs  of  most 
of  them  have  been  discovered  at  Abydos.  The  tomb  of 
Menes,  the  founder  of  the  first  dynasty,  was  excavated 
by  De  Morgan  at  Naqada  in  1897.1 

The  kings  of  dynasties  III-VI  (2980-2475  B.C.)  have 
left  the  great  pyramids,  and  inscriptions  at  the  copper- 
mines   of   Mount  Sinai.      In   the   pyramids   of  the   Vth 

1  See  Petrie,  Naqada  and  Ballas,  1896;  Diospolis  Parva,  1900;  Abydos,  1902-4; 
De  Morgan,  Ethnographie  prehistorique,  pp.  142-202;  Maciver  and  Mace,  El 
Amrah  and  Abydos,  1902;  Quibel,  Elkab,  1898;  Hierakonoplis,  1900ff.;  Garstang, 
Makasna  and  Bet  Khallaf,   1903. 

152 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  153 

and  Vlth  dynasties  are  inscribed  the  so-called  Pyramid 
Texts.  These  were  discovered  by  Mariette  in  1880,  and 
were  published  by  Maspero  in  1894.  A  critical  edition 
of  the  text  by  K.  Sethe  appeared  in  191 1,  and  a  Ger- 
man translation  by  the  same  author  has  been  promised. 

Translations  of  parts  of  these  texts  by  Sethe,  Erman, 
Schafer,  and  others,  have  appeared  in  the  Zeitschrift  fiir 
Agyptologie,  and  by  Breasted  in  his  Religion  and 
Thought  in  Ancient  Egypt.  These  are  the  oldest  re- 
ligious texts  in  the  world;  and  have  come  down  to  us, 
not  in  copies  made  by  generations  of  later  scribes,  but  in 
the  originals,  just  as  they  were  carved  nearly  five  thou- 
sand years  ago  on  the  walls  of  the  royal  sepulchres. 
They  deal  entirely  with  ceremonies  performed  for  the 
benefit  of  the  dead. 

From  the  Middle  Empire  of  dynasties  XI-XII  (2160- 
1788  B.C.)  we  have  the  memorial  stelae  at  Abydos,  the 
biographies  in  the  tombs  of  Benihassan,  and  the  royal 
inscriptions  in  Nubia,  at  Sinai,  and  in  the  quarries.  In 
this  period  literary  papyri  and  private  documents  begin 
to  become  fairly  plentiful.  The  tombs  are  sumptuously 
constructed,  and  elaborately  adorned  with  reliefs.  The 
coffins  are  covered  with  the  so-called  Coffin  Texts,  which 
are  similar  to  the  Pyramid  Texts.  They  also  deal  en- 
tirely with  funerary  ceremonies. 

Under  the  New  Empire  of  dynasties  XVIII-XX  ( 1580- 
1 150  B.C.)  the  historical  sources  become  more  abundant. 
There  are  now  extensive  temple  and  tomb  inscriptions 
with  accompanying  reliefs.  Officers  of  the  king  construct 
elaborate  tombs  with  reliefs,  frescos  and  inscriptions. 
Papyri  and  private  documents  of  all  sorts  are  numerous. 
In  this  period  it  becomes  customary  to  inscribe  the  walls 
of  tombs  with  religious  texts  preparing  the  deceased  for 
entrance  into  the  other  world.  These  compose  the  so- 
called  Book  of  Him  Who  Is  in  the  Nether  World.2  Be- 
sides this,  papyrus  rolls  containing  various  selections  of 

2  See  G.  Jequier,  Le  livre  de  ce  qu'il  y  a  dans  I' Hades,  Paris,  1894. 


i54  SPIRITISM  v 

funerary  ritual  were  deposited  with  the  dead.     These 
form  the  so-called  Book  of  the  Dead. 

From  the  period  of  Egyptian  decline  ( 1 1 50-663  B.C. ) 
monuments  are  rarer;  still,  they  do  not  fail  us  entirely, 
and  they  are  supplemented  by  Classical  sources. 

In  1822  Champollion  began  the  decipherment  of  the 
Egyptian  writing  on  the  basis  of  the  "Rosetta  Stone," 
an  inscription  in  Hieroglyphic  and  Demotic  Egyptian  and 
in  Greek.  In  the  century  that  has  elapsed  since  that  time 
the  science  of  Egyptology  has  been  so  perfected  that  to- 
day an  ordinary  Egyptian  text  can  be  read  with  ease  and 
certainty.  An  admirable  English  translation  of  the  most 
important  historical  documents  is  given  by  J.  H.  Breasted, 
Ancient  Records  of  Egypt  (5  vols.,  Chicago,  1906-7). 
The  Book  of  the  Dead  has  been  published  by  E.  A.  W. 
Budge,  London,  1895;  C.  H.  S.  Davis,  New  York, 
1894;  and  by  P.  Le  Page  Renouf,  continued  by  E. 
Naville.3 

b.  Egyptian  Conceptions  of  the  Soul. — The  ancient 
Egyptians,  like  so  many  other  primitive  peoples,  regarded 
the  'breath,'  du,  as  the  vital  principle  in  man.  Its  chief 
seat  was  the  heart,  or  the  entrails.  At  death  this  sepa- 
rated itself  from  the  body,  and  became  a  ha,  or  'spirit.' 
The  distinction  between  du  and  ha,  accordingly,  is  similar 
to  that  which  we  make  between  'soul'  and  'spirit.'  The 
ha  is  not  said  to  exist  until  after  death;  in  fact,  the  de- 
ceased is  said  to  be  made  a  ha  by  the  ceremonies  that  are 
performed  at  his  funeral  by  the  officiating  priests.  In 
art  the  ha  was  represented  by  a  human-headed  bird  with 

8  The  most  important  modern  works  based  upon  these  ancient  sources  are: 
J.  G.  Wilkinson,  The  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians,2  1883; 
J.  H.  Breasted,  A  History  of  Egypt  (1908);  E.  Meyer,  Geschichte  des 
Altertums 2  (1909);  A.  Wiedemann,  Religion  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians  (Lon- 
don, 1897);  A.  Erman,  A  Handbook  of  Egyptian  Religion  (London,  1907); 
E.  Naville,  The  Old  Egyptian  Faith  (London,  1906);  G.  Steindorff,  The 
Religion  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians  (New  York,  1905);  J.  H.  Breasted,  Develop- 
ment of  Religion  and  Thought  in  Ancient  Egypt  (New  York,  1912);  W.  M. 
Flinders  Petrie,  article  "Egyptian  Religion"  in  Hastings,  Encyclopedia  of  Religion 
and  Ethics  (Edinburgh,  1912);  G.  F.  Moore,  History  of  Religions,  Chapters  viii., 
ix.  (New  York,  1913);  E.  W.  Hopkins,  The  History  of  Religions,  Chapter  xvii. 
(New  York,   1918). 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  155 

arms,  holding  in  one  hand  a  sail,  the  ideograph  for  'wind,' 
or  'spirit,'  and  in  the  other  hand  the  'ankh,  or  emblem  of 
'life.'  This  spirit-bird  is  often  depicted  in  tombs,  and  on 
coffins  and  mummies,  as  hovering  over  the  dead,  or  as 
perching  in  a  tree  and  interestedly  watching  its  own 
funeral.  This  conception  of  the  ba  has  evidently  close 
affinities  with  Hamitic  and  Semitic  ideas  of  the  disem- 
bodied spirit.4 

Another  Egyptian  conception  that  has  given  rise  to 
much  discussion  is  the  ka,  or  'double.'  Formerly  this 
was  regarded  as  a  second  ethereal  soul  that  rose  at  death 
to  the  celestial  regions,  while  the  animal  ba  remained 
with  the  corpse  in  the  grave.5  The  Egyption  anthro- 
pology would  then  hold  to  a  trichotomy  of  human  nature 
into  body,  soul  and  spirit.  More  recent  investigators 
reject  this  view,  and  hold  that  the  ka  was  a  tutelary  spirit, 
like  the  Roman  genius,  who  accompanied  and  guarded  a 
man  from  birth  through  life  and  into  the  hereafter.6 
It  was  thus  roughly  a  counterpart  of  the  "guardian  angel" 
of  later  Jewish  and  Christian  theology.  Originally  ap- 
parently only  kings  had  such  guardians,  but  later  the  idea 
was  extended  to  private  citizens.  In  the  temple  of  Luxor 
the  infant  Amenhotep  III  is  represented  accompanied  by 
his  ka,  which  is  the  exact  counterpart  of  himself.  The 
ka,  accordingly,  was  conceived  as  the  invisible,  spiritual 
duplicate  of  a  man  that  was  born  with  him  and  shared 
his  fortunes  from  that  time  onward.  When  he  died  he 
was  said  to  "go  to  his  ka,"  or  to  "be  with  his  ka."  The 
ka  protects  the  dead  man  from  enemies  in  the  other 
world,  introduces  him  to  the  gods,  provides  food  for 
him;  and  in  the  Pyramid  Texts,  §  1357,  he  and  his  ka 
are  represented  as  dining  together  at  the  same  table. 
In  ancient  texts  the  pair  of  uplifted  arms  that  form  the 
hieroglyph  for  ka  are  frequently  combined  with  the  stand- 
ard that  bears  the  names  of  gods.    This  conception  must 

*See  p.  201. 

6  Compare  the  Chinese  idea,  p.   88. 

•See  p.  70. 


156  SPIRITISM  v 

have  an  entirely  different  origin  from  that  of  the  ba,  or 
'breath.'  It  seems  to  have  been  developed  out  of  the 
'shadow',  which  plays  an  important  part  in  other  early 
religions,  and  is  possibly  of  aboriginal  African  rather 
than  Hamitic  or  Semitic  origin.  A  synonymous  term 
for  ka  was  y'hw  (often  vocalised  as  khu) ,  that  is  'glori- 
ous one.'7  It  appears,  accordingly,  that  the  Egyptians 
did  not  believe  in  a  plurality  of  souls,  but  only  in  one 
soul,  ba,  that  went  by  a  variety  of  other  names;  and  in 
one  companion  spirit,  ka,  that  also  had  a  number  of 
synonymous  names. 

c.  Survival  of  the  Soul  After  Death. — The  possible 
existence  of  the  soul  after  death  was  a  fundamental 
article  of  Egyptian  belief  in  all  ages.  Only  occasionally 
do  we  find  some  philosopher  taking  a  sceptical  attitude 
toward  the  question.  Thus  during  the  Middle  Kingdom 
a  song  was  composed,  which  must  have  been  popular  in 
later  times,  since  two  recensions  have  come  down  to  us, 
one  on  the  wall  of  the  tomb  of  Neferhotep  at  Thebes, 
the  other  in  a  papyrus  manuscript  bearing  the  title : 
"Song  which  is  in  the  house  (tomb)  of  King  Intef,  the 
justified,  which  is  in  front  of  the  singer  with  the  harp." 
From  this  title  the  song  is  often  called  "the  Song  of  the 
Harper."    Parts  of  this  read  as  follows : 

"No  one  cometh  from  yonder 
That  he  may  describe  their  existence; 
That  he  may  tell  their  affairs, 
That  he  may  satisfy  our  heart; 
Before  we  also  depart 
To  the  place  whither  they  have  gone. 

Increase  still  more  thy  pleasure, 

Let  not  thy  heart  grow  weary. 

Manage  thine  affairs  on  earth 

According  to  the  wishes  of  thy  heart, 

For  the  day  of  mourning  is  coming  for  thee, 

When  he  whose  heart  is  still  hears  not  the  laments, 

'Compare  the  Hebrew  use  of  "glory"   for  "spirit,"   Gen.   49:6;  Psa.    7:5;    16:9; 
108:1. 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  157 

Nor  he  who  is  in  the  tomb  perceives  the  weeping. 

Celebrate  the  glad  day, 

Do  not  cease  therein. 

Behold,  no  one  taketh  anything  with  him, 

And  no  one  returneth  that  hath  gone  thither."  * 

In  similar  vein  an  epitaph  of  the  Greek  period  says: 
"O  father,  husband,  relative,  priest,  cease  not  to  drink, 
to  eat,  to  drain  the  cup  of  pleasure  and  of  love,  and  to 
hold  joyous  festival;  follow  thy  heart  day  and  night 
through  all  the  years  thou  shalt  spend  on  earth.  For  the 
West  is  a  land  of  sleep  and  darkness,  an  oppressive  abode 
for  those  who  dwell  in  it.  They  sleep,  they  are  motionless 
forms,  they  never  wake  again  to  look  on  their  brethren; 
they  know  not  their  father  or  their  mother;  their  heart 
yearns  not  for  their  spouses  or  their  children."  9 

Such  thoughts  made  no  impression  upon  the  mass  of 
the  Egyptian  people.  They  continued  to  embalm  their 
mummies,  build  their  tombs,  and  make  their  offerings  to 
the  dead,  in  the  confidence  that  the  spirits  still  lived,  and 
were   benefited  by   these   things. 

d.  Powers  Retained  by  the  Dead. — The  future  life, 
whether  in  the  tomb,  in  Hades,  or  in  Heaven,  was  con- 
ceived as  essentially  identical  with  the  present  life.  The 
king  remained  a  king,  dwelling  in  his  palace,  ruling  over 
his  subjects,  waited  upon  by  his  officials  and  his  slaves. 
The  noble  continued  to  be  a  noble,  with  his  broad  estates, 
his  large  family,  and  his  retinue  of  serfs.  The  head  of 
the  house  still  maintained  his  authority  over  his  wives, 
children,  and  slaves.  In  the  Pyramid  Texts  the  king  is 
assured  that  he  shall  not  lack  wives  in  the  other  world. 
His  royal  revenues  shall  also  be  paid  to  him  promptly. 
His  table  shall  lack  none  of  the  dainties  to  which  he 
has  been  accustomed  on  earth.  "Thy  thousand  of  young 
antelopes  from  the  highland,  they  come  to  thee  with 
bowed  head,  thy  thousand  of  bread,  thy  thousand  of 
beer,  thy  thousand  of  incense  that  came  forth  from  the 

*  W.  M.  Miiller,  Licbespocsie  der  alten  Agypter,  pp.  29-37. 
» E.   Naville,    The   Old  Egyptian   Faith,   p.   205. 


158  SPIRITISM  v 

palace  hall,  thy  thousand  of  everything  pleasant,  thy 
thousand  of  cattle,  thy  thousand  of  everything  thou 
eatest,  on  which  thy  desire  is  set,  bread  which  cannot  dry 
up,  and  beer  which  cannot  grow  stale."  "Raise  thee  up! 
Arise !  Sit  down  to  thy  thousand  of  bread,  thy  thousand 
of  beer,  thy  thousand  of  oxen,  thy  thousand  of  geese, 
thy  thousand  of  everything  on  which  the  god  lives."  10 

In  order  to  secure  these  good  things  in  the  other  world 
they  were  placed  with  the  dead  in  the  tomb,  or  were 
sacrificed  upon  it,  whence  they  were  transported  to 
Heaven  by  the  god  Thoth,  by  the  celestial  ferryman, 
or  by  Re  himself  in  the  solar  barque.  In  later  times 
pictures  of  articles  placed  in  tombs  were  believed  by 
sympathetic  magic  to  cause  their  reproduction  in  the 
abode  of  the  departed. 

Even  prayer  for  the  dead  was  regarded  as  efficacious 
in  keeping  them  from  hunger.  A  form  repeated  on 
countless  tombs  was :  "An  offering  which  the  King  gives ; 
Horus  of  Edfu,  Osiris  and  Isis,  may  they  give  bread, 
beer,  oxen,  geese,  everything  good  and  pure  for  the  ka 
of  the  deceased."  1X  The  passer-by  is  begged  for  "that 
breath  of  the  mouth  (prayer)  which  is  of  use  to  the  dead, 
and  also  not  difficult,  even  as  thou  desirest  that  thy  gods 
shall  love  and  reward  thee,  and  that  thou  shalt  bequeath 
thy  offices  to  thy  children,  even  as  thou  lovest  life  and 
hatest  death."  12  A  mortuary  prayer  on  the  tomb  of 
Senmut,  who  lived  under  Thutmose  III,  reads:  "The 
oblations  in  the  South  for  the  ka  of  the  magnate  of  the 
South  and  North,  Senmut.  May  she  (Mut)  give  the 
food-offerings  in  the  Northland  to  the  ka  of  the  greatest 
of  the  great,  noblest  of  the  noble,  Senmut.  May  she 
give  all  that  comes  forth  from  her  table  in  Karnak,  in 
the  temples  of  the  gods  of  the  South  and  North  to  the  ka 
of  the  master  of  secret  things  in  the  temple,  Senmut. 
May  she  give  the  mortuary  offering  of  bread,  beer,  oxen, 

10  Breasted,  Religion,   pp.    131-2. 

11  Breasted,   Records,   ii.   111. 

12  Erman,  Religion,  p.   125. 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  159 

geese;  and  to  drink  water  at  the  living  stream;  to  the  ka 
of  the  chief  steward  of  Amon,  Senmut."  13 

To  those  who  will  make  offerings  the  dead  promise 
that  they  will  intercede  with  the  gods  on  behalf  of  the 
donors.  Thus  Ptahshepses,  who  lived  under  Nuserre 
of  the  Vth  dynasty,  says:  "I  have  made  this  tomb  as  a 
just  possession,  and  never  have  I  taken  a  thing  belonging 
to  any  person.  Whosoever  shall  make  offerings  to  me 
therein,  I  will  do  it  for  them;  I  will  commend  them  to 
the  god  for  it  very  greatly;  I  will  do  this  for  them,  for 
bread,  for  beer,  for  clothing,  for  ointment,  and  for  grain, 
in  great  quantity."  14  Even  for  prayer  in  their  behalf 
the  shades  will  show  similar  gratitude.  Harkhuf,  who 
lived  under  Mernere  of  the  Vlth  dynasty,  promises: 
"O  ye  living,  who  are  upon  earth,  who  shall  pass  by  this 
tomb,  whether  going  down-stream  or  going  up-stream, 
who  shall  say:  'A  thousand  loaves,  a  thousand  jars  of 
beer  for  the  owner  of  this  tomb';  I  will  (intercede)  for 
their  sakes  in  the  Nether  World.  I  am  an  excellent, 
equipped  spirit,  a  ritual  priest,  whose  mouth  knows."  15 

e.  Powers  Gained  by  the  Dead. — In  spite  of  all  these 
materialistic  features  that  have  been  described  which 
made  the  future  life  resemble  the  present  life,  the  ancient 
Egyptians,  like  all  other  early  races,  regarded  the  dead 
as  beings  akin  to  the  gods,  and  therefore  possessed  of 
transcendent  intelligence  and  might.  At  first  the  king, 
and  subsequently  all  the  deceased,  were  identified  with 
Re  and  later  with  Osiris.  They  rode  with  him  in  the  solar 
barque  through  the  sky,  descended  with  him  into  Hades 
during  the  night,  and  rose  triumphant  with  him  in  the 
morning.  Like  the  gods,  they  were  unrestricted  by  condi- 
tions of  space  or  time.  Whether  in  the  Grave,  in  Hades, 
or  in  Heaven,  they  could  come  at  the  call  of  their  wor- 
shippers to  enjoy  the  sacrifices  that  had  been  prepared 
for  them.     From  the  sepulchral  chamber  in  the  heart  of 

18  Breasted,   Records,    ii.    35S-6. 
14  Ibid.,  i.  252. 
11  Ibid.,  I  329. 


160  SPIRITISM  v 

the  pyramid  the  spirit  of  the  Pharaoh  could  pass  through 
hundreds  of  feet  of  solid  masonry,  through  the  massive 
false  door  that  adorned  the  fagade  of  the  pyramid,  and 
appear  in  the  mortuary  chapel  to  receive  the  homage 
and  the  offerings  of  the  priests.  In  the  New  Empire  the 
tombs  of  kings  and  of  nobles  were  hidden  deep  in  caverns 
in  the  rock,  and  their  chapels  were  miles  away;  but  this 
did  not  prevent  them  from  coming  to  enjoy  their  cult. 
Even  Hades  and  Heaven  were  not  so  remote  that  they 
could  not  return  to  earth  on  frequent  occasions.  For 
this  reason  they  were  spoken  of  as  "those  who  go  in  and 
go  out  of  the  Nether  World."  They  were  also  called 
the  "glorious  ones,"  the  "imperishable  ones,"  the 
"mighty,"  the  "triumphant,"  the  "victorious."  The 
superhuman  powers  that  they  possessed  were  the  same 
that  we  have  found  already  in  primitive  religion  and  in 
the  religion  of  China. 

I.  Control  of  Physical  Objects. — Spirits  of  the  dead 
were  believed  to  occupy  statues,  just  as  gods  were  believed 
to  occupy  images.  In  tombs  of  nobles  of  the  Old  Empire 
the  mummy  was  placed  in  a  rock-hewn  chamber  at  the 
bottom  of  a  vertical  shaft.  The  shaft  was  filled  in  with 
stones,  and  above  it  was  built  a  stone  or  brick  truncated 
pyramid  known  by  the  Arabic  name  of  mastaba,  or 
'bench.'  Within  this  was  a  small  chapel  for  presenting 
offerings;  and  behind  this,  separated  by  the  false  door,  a 
walled-in  chamber,  known  in  Arabic  as  serddb,  or  'cellar,' 
containing  a  portrait-statue  of  the  deceased.  He  was 
thought  to  occupy  the  statue,  and  to  receive  through 
the  false  door  the  gifts  that  were  presented  to  him. 
Occasionally  a  slit  or  hole  was  made  in  the  masonry 
to  allow  the  spirit  egress  and  ingress.  When  later  the 
mortuary  chapel  was  separated  from  the  tomb  and  was 
elaborated  into  a  temple,  the  statue  of  the  deceased  was 
moved  with  it.  The  inscriptions  contain  frequent  mention 
of  the  setting  up  of  such  statues  in  tombs  and  in  temples. 
Many  authors  speak  of  these  as  "statues  of  the  ka" 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  161 

but  there  is  no  foundation  for  this  term  either  in  the 
tomb  texts  or  in  the  inscriptions  placed  upon  these 
statues.16 

Spirits  of  the  dead  were  able  to  control  these  statues 
so  as  to  reveal  their  will  through  them.     An  inscription 
discovered  at  Sakkara  in  1898  relates  that  in  the  reign 
of  Ahmose  I  (1 580-1 557  B.C.)  a  certain  Nesha  received 
from   the   king   an   estate   which   he   bequeathed   to   his 
descendants,  stipulating  that  it  should  not  be  divided.     In 
the  reign  of  Ramses  II,  three  hundred  years  later,  the 
courts  permitted  the  division  of  the  estate;  but  Pasar, 
son  of  Mesmen,  appealed  the  case  to  the  statue  of  the 
deified  Ahmose   as  it  was  being  carried  in  procession, 
and  the   statue  by  nodding  confirmed  his  claim  to   the 
estate.17     Similar  accounts  are  given  of  gods  controlling 
their  statues.    Thus  in  the  time  of  Ramses  II  the  prince 
of  Bekhten  in  Mesopotamia  had  given  his  daughter  in 
marriage  to  the  Pharaoh.     When  her  sister  fell  ill,  he 
requested  that  the  miracle-working  statue  of  Khonsu-the- 
Plan-Maker  might  be  sent  to  heal  her.     The  king  sub- 
mitted  the   matter   to   the   decision   of   two   images   of 
Khonsu.      "Then   they   led   Khonsu-in-Thebes-Beautiful- 
Rest  to  Khonsu-the-Plan-Maker,  the  great  god,  smiting 
the  evil  spirits.    Then  said  his  majesty  before  Khonsu-in- 
Thebes-Beautiful-Rest :     'O  thou  good  lord,  if  thou  in- 
clinest  thy  face  to  Khonsu-the-Plan-Maker,  the  great  god, 
smiting  the  evil  sprits,  he  shall  be  conveyed  to  Bekhten.' 
There  was  a  violent  nodding.     Then  said  his  majesty: 
'Send   thy  protection  with   him,   that   I   may   cause   his 
majesty  (the  idol)  to  go  to  Bekhten,  to  save  the  daughter 
of  the  prince  of  Bekhten.'  "     This  nodding  image   of 
Khonsu   is  mentioned   again   by   Hrihor   of   the   XXIst 
dynasty.     A  nodding  image  of  Amon  is  mentioned  by 
Merneptah   of   the   XlXth   dynasty,   by   Hrihor   of   the 
XXIst    dynasty,    and   by    Menkheperre    of    the    XXIst 

18  See   G.    Steindorff,   Zeitschrift  fur   agyptische   Sprache,   48,    152-9. 

"A.  Moret,  in  Comptes  Rendus  de  I'Academie  des  Inscriptions,  1917,  pp.  157-165. 


1 62  SPIRITISM  v 

dynasty.18  If  spirits  could  do  such  things  as  this,  it  is 
probable  that  they  possessed  in  Egypt  all  the  powers  of 
levitation  and  of  control  that  they  manifested  elsewhere, 
although  we  have  no  explicit  records  to  this  effect. 

2.  Control  of  Animals. — The  ancient  belief  that 
spirits  of  the  dead  entered  into  animals,  particularly 
those  that  prowled  about  tombs,  existed  also  in  Egypt. 
The  Coffin  Texts  of  the  Middle  Empire  already  contain 
magical  formulas  by  which  the  deceased  may  transform 
himself  into  certain  birds  or  animals.  These  charms  are 
greatly  amplified  in  the  texts  of  the  New  Empire  which 
constitute  the  so-called  Book  of  the  Dead.  Thus  in  the 
recension  of  the  Book  of  the  Dead  found  in  the  Papyrus 
of  Ani,  edited  by  Budge,  chapter  lxvii  treats  of  "changing 
into  a  golden  hawk";  lxxvii,  "changing  into  a  divine 
hawk";  lxxxi,  "changing  into  a  lotus";  lxxxiii,  "changing 
into  a  bennu  bird";  lxxxiv,  "changing  into  a  heron"; 
lxxxvi,  "changing  into  a  swallow";  lxxxviii,  "changing 
into  a  crocodile."  In  another  recension  the  dead  man 
becomes  a  serpent  by  saying:  "I  am  the  serpent  whose 
years  are  long.  I  lie  down  and  am  born  every  day.  I 
am  the  serpent  at  the  ends  of  the  earth.  I  lie  down, 
then  I  am  born,  I  am  re-established,  I  grow  young  every 
day." 

This  is  the  basis  on  which  Herodotus19  asserts: 
"The  Egyptians  were  the  first  to  broach  the  opinion 
that  the  soul  of  man  is  immortal,  and  that,  when  the 
body  dies,  it  enters  into  the  form  of  an  animal  which  is 
born  at  the  moment,  thence  passing  on  from  one  animal 
into  another,  until  it  has  circled  through  all  the  forms 
of  all  the  creatures  which  tenant  the  earth,  the  water, 
and  the  air,  after  which  it  enters  again  into  a  human 
frame,  and  is  born  anew.  The  whole  period  of  the  trans- 
migration is,  they  say,  three  thousand  years.  There  are 
Greek  writers,  some  of  an  earlier,  some  of  a  later  date, 
who  have  borrowed  this  doctrine  from  the  Egyptians, 

"Breasted,  Records,  iii.  440,  444,  580;  iv.  615,  617,  655-6,  658. 
19 II.  123. 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  163 

and  put  it  forward  as  their  own."  This  opinion  is  not 
sustained  by  the  evidence  of  the  Egyptian  monuments. 
These  show  something  far  simpler  than  the  philosophic 
doctrine  of  transmigration.  The  Egyptian  idea  is  the 
same  that  we  find  among  all  ancient  races  and  among 
modern  savages,  that  the  discarnate  spirit  can  enter  tem- 
porarily into  the  bodies  of  animals.  Out  of  this  primitive 
zoomorphism  the  doctrine  of  transmigration,  as  a  means 
of  explaining  the  problem  of  evil  and  of  securing  retribu- 
tion, was  evolved  in  India,  whence  it  travelled  to  Greek 
thinkers  such  as  Pythagoras  and  Plato.20 

3.  Re-animation  of  Dead  Bodies. — The  belief  in  a 
possible  resurrection  of  the  flesh  that  we  found  in  China21 
has  not  certainly  been  discovered  in  Egypt.  The  spirit 
inhabits  the  mummy,  and  it  is  most  important  for  the 
welfare  and  peace  of  the  soul  that  its  body  be  preserved, 
but  it  does  not  revive  the  body.  The  Egyptian  doc- 
trine of  resurrection  was  apparently  a  resurrection  of  the 
spirit  from  the  sleep  of  death  rather  than  a  resurrection 
of  the  flesh.  It  was  akin  to  Paul's  conception  of  resur- 
rection in  I  Corinthians,  15:35  sq.:  "It  is  sown  a  nat- 
ural body;  it  is  raised  a  spiritual  body.  .  .  .  Flesh  and 
blood  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God;  neither  doth 
corruption  inherit  incorruption."  22  No  case  of  physical 
resurrection  is  recorded  in  any  Egyptian  text,  nor  is  a 
future  resurrection  of  the  body  anticipated.  Several 
competent  scholars,  however,  think  differently  on  this 
matter,  and  hold  that  such  passages  from  the  Pyramid 
Texts  as  are  quoted  below  under  /,  which  call  upon  the 
Pharaoh  to  arise  and  receive  his  food,  refer  to  a  literal 
resurrection  of  the  flesh.  The  idea  of  rebirth  in  a  new 
body,  which  is  found  in  so  many  other  parts  of  the  world, 
is  also  wanting  in  Egypt. 

4.      Obsession  of  Living  Men. — The  dead  were  be- 
lieved to  be  envious  of  the  living,  and  therefore  to  enter 

30  See  p.  99f. 
21  See  p.  26. 
"  See  p.  296. 


1 64  SPIRITISM  v 

into  the  bodies  of  men  causing  disease  and  death.  In 
the  Book  of  the  Dead  (ed.  Naville,  92,  10)  the  gods 
are  adjured  to  "shut  up  the  shadows  of  the  dead,  and 
the  dead  who  work  evil  to  us."  An  officer  who  had  lost 
his  wife,  and  who  had  fallen  ill  soon  afterwards,  was 
told  by  a  soothsayer  that  his  wife  was  lonely  without 
him,  and  that  she  was  trying  to  kill  him.  Accordingly 
he  wrote  a  letter  to  her,  which  he  deposited  in  her  grave : 
"What  evil  have  I  ever  done  thee  that  I  am  now  in 
such  misery?  What  have  I  done  to  thee  that  now  thou 
layest  hands  upon  me?  From  the  time  that  I  became  thy 
husband,  up  to  this  day,  have  I  ever  done  aught  that  I 
would  have  hidden  from  thee?  .  .  .  When  I  was  ap- 
pointed to  all  manner  of  offices,  I  was  still  by  thy  side,  I 
left  thee  not,  and  brought  no  grief  into  thy  heart.  .  .  . 
When  thou  didst  sicken  with  the  sickness  which  thou  hast 
suffered,  I  went  to  the  chief  physician;  he  prepared  medi- 
cines for  thee,  and  did  all  that  thou  didst  desire  of  him. 
(After  thy  death)  I  besought  Pharaoh  and  came  hither 
to  thee  and  mourned  thee  greatly  with  my  people  before 
my  house."  23  The  princess  of  Bekhten  mentioned  above, 
who  was  cured  by  the  image  of  Khonsu,  was  obsessed  by 
an  evil  spirit,  probably  of  the  dead,  although  this  is  not 
expressly  stated.  A  series  of  exorcisms  used  by  mothers 
to  drive  malignant  ghosts  away  from  their  children  has 
come  down  to  us.    One  of  these  reads  as  follows : 

"Run  out,  thou  who  comest  in  darkness,  who  enterest  in  stealth, 
His  nose  behind  him,  his  face  turned  backward,  who  loseth  that 

for  which  he  came. 
Run  out,  thou  who  comest  in  darkness,  who  enterest  in  stealth, 
Her  nose  behind  her,  her  face  turned  backward,  who  loseth  that 

for  which  she  came. 
Comest  thou  to  kiss  this  child?     I  will  not  let  thee  kiss  him. 
Comest  thou  to  soothe  him?     I  will  not  let  thee  soothe  him. 
Comest  thou  to  harm  him?     I  will  not  let  thee  harm  him. 
Comest  thou  to  take  him  away?     I  will  not  let  thee  take  him 

away. 

38  Erman,  Life  in  Ancient  Egypt,  p.  lSlf. 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  165 

I  have  made  his  protection  against  thee  out  of  efet-herb  which 

hurts, 
Out  of  onions  which  harm  thee; 
Out  of  honey  which  is  sweet  to  (living)  men,  and  bitter  to  those 

who   are   yonder ; 
Out  of  the  evil   (parts)   of  the  ebdu-ftsh,  out  of  the  jaw  of  the 

meretj 
Out  of  the  backbone  of  the  perch."  24 

The  reference  to  honey  as  "bitter  to  those  who  are  yon- 
der" shows  that  the  evil  spirits  who  are  dreaded  are 
those  of  the  dead. 

5.  Possession  of  Living  Men. — The  same  princess 
of  Bekhten  who  was  obsessed  by  an  evil  spirit  also  spoke 
under  the  influence  of  this  spirit.  "Then  said  this  spirit 
which  was  in  her  before  Khonsu-the-Plan-Maker-in- 
Thebes,  'Thou  comest  in  peace,  thou  great  god,  smiting 
the  barbarians.  Bekhten  is  thy  city,  its  people  are  thy 
servants,  I  am  thy  servant.  I  will  go  to  the  place  whence 
I  came  to  satisfy  thy  heart  concerning  that  on  account 
of  which  thou  comest.  Let  thy  majesty  command  to 
celebrate  a  feast-day  with  me  and  with  the  chief  of 
Bekhten.'  "  This  indicates  that  spirits  of  the  dead  con- 
trolled mediums,  just  as  the  gods  inspired  prophets.  Un- 
fortunately our  information  on  this  subject  is  not  so  com- 
plete as  we  could  wish. 

/.  The  Abode  of  the  Dead. —  1.  The  Grave. — In 
no  land  was  the  disembodied  spirit  associated  more  closely 
wTtTTtne rn rpse  than  in~F.gyrij__J_t_w£g  believed  that_the 
ba  constantly  retiirnedjto  the  body  as  its  proper  dwelling- 
place;  and  that  if  the  body_j3erished,  the  soul  would 
eventually  perish  also.  Hence  the  mummification  of 
corpses  in  order  to  preserve  them,  hence  also  pyramids 
and  secret  tombs  to  guard  them  from  molestation  or 
destruction.  In  case  that  any  accident  happened  to  the 
mummy,  statues  of  the  deceased  were  placed  in  the  tomb 
in  order  that  the  soul  might  occupy  one  of  these.  The 
inscriptions    on    tombs    frequently    contain   curses    upon 

M  Erman,  Zauberspriiche  fur  Mutter  und  Kind,  Berlin,   1901,  p.   12f. 


1 66  SPIRITISM  v 

anyone  who  shall  violate  them.  Thus  Harkhuf,  who 
flourished  under  Mernere  of  the  Vlth  dynasty,  says: 
"As  for  any  man  who  shall  enter  into  this  tomb  as  his 
mortuary  possession,  I  will  seize  him  like  a  wild  fowl; 
he  shall  be  judged  for  it  by  the  great  god."  25  The 
restoration  of  mummies  was  a  pious  act  that  was  fre- 
quently undertaken  by  later  generations.  Thus  under 
Ramses  XII  of  the  XXth  dynasty  Hrihor,  the  high  priest 
of  Amon,  restored  the  mummies  of  Ramses  II  and  of 
Seti  I  that  had  been  damaged  by  tomb-robbers,  and  left 
a  record  of  this  fact  on  their  coffins.  Paynozen  I  of  the 
XXIst  dynasty  also  accumulated  much  merit  by  repairing 
the  damaged  mummies  of  his  predecessors.26 

The  soul  was  believed  to  share  in  the  unconsciousness 
of  the  body  produced  by  death,  and  from  this  it  must  be 
roused  by  magical  ceremonies  before  it  could  enter  upon 
its  new  existence.  The  Pyramid  Texts  contain  numerous 
incantations,  doubtless  recited  by  the  priests,  that  are 
intended  to  rouse  the  spirit  from  the  sleep  of  death. 
"Ho,  King  Unis!  Thou  hast  not  departed  dead,  thou 
hast  departed  living";  "Thou  hast  departed  that  thou 
mightest  live,  thou  hast  not  departed  that  thou  mightest 
die";  "Thy  bones  perish  not,  thy  flesh  sickens  not,  thy 
members  are  not  distant  from  thee" ;  "Raise  thee  up, 
King  Pepi,  receive  to  thee  thy  water,  gather  to  thee  thy 
bones,  stand  thou  upon  thy  two  feet,  being  a  glorious 
one  before  the  glorious.  Raise  thee  up  for  this  thy  bread 
which  cannot  dry  up,  and  thy  beer  which  cannot  become 
stale."  21  Here  we  have  a  process  of  resurrection  that 
takes  place  immediately  after  death,  and  that  is  effected 
through  the  sacramental  activities  of  the  survivors.  This 
is  what  is  called  "making  a  man  a  ba"  If  these  cere- 
monies are  neglected,  the  presumption  is  that  the  soul  will 
not  survive  the  catastrophe  of  death,  and  will  not  return 
to  occupy  its  mummy.     These  rites  are  apparently  an 

aB  Breasted,  Records,  i.  330. 
M  Ibid.,  iv.  592-4;  634-47. 
"  See  Breasted,  Religion,   pp.   57,   58,  91. 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  167 

evolution  out  of  ancient  efforts  to  recall  the  soul  at  the 
moment  of  death. 

The  most  primitive  belief  in  Egypt,  as  in  other  lands, 
was  that  spirits  of  the  dead  inhabited  their  tombs.     This 
was  an  inevitable  inference  from  the  close  connection  be- 
tween the  ba  and  the  mummy.     ForVthis  reason  tombs 
of  the  wealthy  were  constructed  like  houses,  and  were 
filled  with  all  good  things  that  the  deceased  had  used  in 
life.     Even  the  poor  were  not  buried  without  food,  drink, 
clothing,  ornaments  and  tools.     The  tomb  was  known  as 
the  "eternal  house,"  as  in  the  Phoenician  inscriptions  and 
in  Ecclesiastes  12:5.     A  certain  Zau,  son  of  Zau,  who 
flourished  under  Pepi   II  of  the  Vlth  dynasty,   records 
in  his  inscription:     "Now,   I   caused   that   I   should  be 
buried  in  the  same  tomb  with  this  Zau,  in  order  that  I 
might  be  with  him  in  one  place;  not,  however,  because 
I  was  not  in  a  position  to  make  a  second  tomb;  but  I 
did  this  in  order  that  I  might  see  this  Zau  every  day,  in 
order  that  I  might  be  with  him  in  one  place."28     The 
prosperous  saw  to  it  that  tombs  were  constructed  for 
themselves  during  their  lifetimes;  and  if  they  failed  to 
complete  the  task,  this  was  a  solemn  responsibility  that 
rested  upon  their  sons.     In  order  to  secure  maintenance 
of  their  tombs  and  regular  presentation  of  the  necessary 
offerings  of  food  and  drink,  the  rich  were  accustomed  to 
leave  endowments  in  perpetuity.     As  early  as  the  IVth 
dynasty  we  find  deeds  recorded  on  the  walls  of  tombs 
conveying  lands  and  whole  villages  of  serfs  to  certain 
guilds  of  priests  on  condition  that  they  keep  up  the  cult 
of  the  donor  on  certain  specified  days.     Such  mortuary 
endowments  were  often  accompanied  with  curses  upon 
the  person  who  should  presume  to  violate  the  conditions 
of  the  trust.     Thus  the  deed  of  Amenhotep  III  of  the 
XVIIIth  dynasty  concludes  with  the  words:     "As  for 
the  general   and  scribe   of  the   army  who  shall   follow 
after  me  and  shall  find  the  &#-chapel  beginning  to  decay, 

*  Records,    i.    383. 


1 68  SPIRITISM  v 

together  with  the  male  and  female  slaves  who  are  culti- 
vating the  field  for  my  endowment,  and  shall  take  away 
a  man  therefrom  in  order  to  put  him  to  any  business 
of  Pharaoh,  L.  P.  H.,  or  any  commission,  may  his  body 
be  accursed."  To  similar  effect  Seti  I  of  the  XlXth 
dynasty  says:  "As  for  anyone  who  shall  avert  the  face 
from  the  command  of  Osiris,  Osiris  shall  pursue  him,  Isis 
shall  pursue  his  wife,  Horus  shall  pursue  his  children, 
among  all  the  princes  of  the  necropolis,  and  they  shall 
execute  their  judgment  with  him."  29 

The  aim  was  to  make  these  endowments  perpetual, 
and  to  care  for  the  tomb,  the  mummy,  and  the  mortuary 
offerings,  as  long  as  the  world  should  endure;  of  course, 
this  hope  was  not  realized.  Endowments  were  usually 
respected  as  long  as  the  dynasty  lasted  under  which  they 
were  made,  but  when  a  new  dynasty  came  to  the  throne 
they  were  confiscated  and  the  tombs  were  neglected. 
There  were,  however,  cases  in  which  the  trusts  were  kept. 
The  dark  period  of  civil  strife  and  decline  that  intervened 
between  the  Old  Kingdom  and  the  Middle  Kingdom  ob- 
literated ancient  trusts.  When  Egypt  once  more  rose  to 
glory  under  the  Xlth  dynasty  (2160  B.  C),  the  tombs  of 
the  first  kings  at  Abydos  and  the  pyramids  of  the  later 
kings  were  already  in  ruins.  The  endowments  had  lapsed, 
the  priests  had  departed,  and  the  offerings  to  the  dead 
had  ceased.  A  thousand  years  had  elapsed  since  the  first 
of  the  great  pyramids  had  been  built,  and  five  hundred 
years  since  the  last  one,  and  this  had  been  sufficient  to 
reduce  them  to  a  desolation  similar  to  that  which  they 
present  today.  The  futility  of  these  efforts  to  secure  a 
physical  immortality  impressed  itself  even  upon  poets 
who  lived  four  thousand  years  ago.  In  the  so-called 
"Song  of  the  Harper"  the  bard  laments: 

"The  gods  who  were  of  old, 
Who  rest  in  their  tombs, 
The  mummies  and  the  shades  together, 

"Records,  ii.  925;  iii.  194. 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  169 

Interred  in  their  tombs, 

Who  built  their  sanctuaries, 

Their  place  is  no  more. 

What  is  it  that  has  been  done  to  them? 

I  have  heard  the  words  of  Imhotep  and  of  Hardedef, 

WTho  were  famous  for  their  utterances. 

What  has  becomes  of  their  places? 

Their  walls  are  torn  down, 

Their  place  is  no  more, 

As  though  they  had  never  been."  30 

Imhotep  was  the  architect  of  the  stepped  pyramid  of 
Zoser  of  the  Hid  dynasty,  and  Hardedef  was  the  son  of 
Khufu  (Cheops),  the  builder  of  the  Great  Pyramid. 
The  tombs  of  these  famous  men  had  already  disappeared 
2000  B.C. 

Numerous  attempts  were  made  by  pious  persons  to 
repair  certain  tombs.  Thus  a  certain  Intef,  prince  of 
Hermonthis,  during  the  Middle  Kingdom  boasts:  "I 
found  the  chamber  of  offerings  of  the  prince  Nekhti- 
oker  fallen  down,  its  walls  were  old,  all  its  statues  were 
broken,  there  was  no  one  who  heeded  it.  Thus  it  was  re- 
built, its  site  was  enlarged,  its  statues  were  renewed,  and 
its  door  built  of  stone,  so  that  his  place  surpassed  that 
of  other  noble  princes."  Such  sporadic  efforts  were 
useless,  however,  to  check  the  ravages  of  time. 

2.  The  Dead  Dwell  in  an  Underworld. — This  was 
the  teaching  of  the  religion  of  the  god  Osiris  which 
developed  in  pre-dynastic  times  in  the  Delta.  Its  origi- 
nal seat  was  Dedu,  in  Greek  times  known  as  Busiris. 
Before  the  union  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt  under  the 
rule  of  Menes  (3400  B.C.)  it  had  already  spread  into 
the  hostile  southern  kingdom,  and  had  established  itself 
at  Siut,  and  then  at  Abydos  which  subsequently  became 
its  chief  centre. 

The  Osirian  religion  taught  that  there  was  an  Under- 
world, into  which  the  sun  descended  through  the  gate  of 

50  W.  M.   Miiller,  Die  Liebespoesie  der  alien  Agypter,   Leipzig,   1899,  p.  29. 


i7o  SPIRITISM  v 

the  West,  which  he  traversed  during  the  night,  and  from 
which  he  emerged  in  the  East  in  the  morning.  This  was 
the  abode  of  spirits  of  the  dead.  The  belief  is  identical 
with  the  Babylonian  conception  of  Aralu  (see  chapter 
vii) ,  and  with  the  Hebrew  conception  of  Sheol  (see  chap- 
ter ix) ,  and  it  is  possible  that  its  appearance  in  Egypt  may 
be  due  to  Semitic  influence.  Similar  beliefs,  however, 
have  arisen  independently  in  other  parts  of  the  world, 
so  that  it  may  be  a  purely  Egyptian  development. 

This  region  was  known  as  Earn,  'the  Field  of  Rushes.' 
It  was  a  counterpart  of  the  Delta  with  its  numerous 
canals  and  reedy  swamps.  Here  the  dead  tilled  the  soil, 
as  in  life,  and  the  wheat  grew  higher  than  their  heads. 
Another  name  was  Amenti,  'the  West.'  Its  inhabitants 
were  known  as  "Westerners,"  or  "Children  of  the  West." 
To  "go  West"  was  a  euphemism  for  death,  a  phrase  that 
has  had  a  strange  revival  during  the  recent  World-War. 
Still  another  name  was  Dewat,  the  'Nether  World.'  It 
was  pictured  as  a  subterranean  counterpart  to  Egypt,  with 
the  river  Nile  flowing  through  the  midst,  and  cliffs  on 
either  side  in  whose  caverns  the  shades  dwelt  as  they 
dwelt  in  their  tombs  on  either  side  of  the  terrestrial  Nile. 
In  the  daytime  this  is  a  land  of  darkness  and  desolation; 
but  at  night,  when  the  sun  descends  into  this  world,  "the 
departed,  who  are  in  their  halls,  in  their  caverns,  praise 
the  sun,  their  eyes  are  opened,  their  heart  is  full  of  felicity 
when  they  behold  the  sun;  they  shout  for  joy  when  his 
body  is  over  them." 

In  order  to  reach  the  gate  of  the  West  through  which 
the  sun  and  the  spirits  of  the  dead  entered  the  Nether 
World  it  was  necessary  to  cross  the  sea.  In  order  to 
pass  this  there  was  need  of  the  ferryman  "Look  Behind," 
or  "Face  Backward,"  so  called  because  he  poled  his  barge 
facing  backward  like  a  Nile  boatman.31     With  reference 

81  Compare    the    Babylonian    conception    p.    217,    and    Charon's    ferry    across   the 
Styx. 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  171 

to  this  voyage  "landing"  and  "mooring"  were  used  as 
euphemisms  for  death. 

The  ruler  of  the  Underworld  was  Osiris,  who  bore  the 
title  Khenti-Amentiu,  "First  of  the  Westerners."  He 
was  a  personification  of  the  reproductive  energy  of  nature 
that  showed  itself  in  the  annual  overflow  of  the  Nile,  in 
the  fertile  soil  that  it  deposited,  and  in  the  vegetation 
that  grew  upon  the  soil.  He  died  annually  with  the 
ripening  of  the  crops  in  summer,  and  came  to  life  again 
with  the  inundation  of  the  autumn.  The  myth  of  Osiris  has 
come  down  to  us  completely  only  in  the  late  Greek  form 
preserved  by  Plutarch  in  his  treatise  De  hide  et  Osiride, 
but  nearly  all  the  elements  of  this  story  can  be  traced 
back  as  far  as  the  Pyramid  Texts.  In  ancient  times  he 
reigned  righteously  and  peacefully  over  the  land  of  Egypt, 
he  taught  the  people  agriculture,  and  gave  them  laws 
and  civilization.  He  was  slain  by  his  wicked  brother  Set, 
and  cast  into  the  waters  of  the  overflowing  Nile,  where 
he  drifted,  according  to  Plutarch,  as  far  as  Byblos 
(Gebal)  in  Phoenicia.  His  sister-wife  Isis  and  his  sister 
Nephthys  searched  for  him  throughout  the  world,  until 
at  last  they  found  him,  mourned  over  him,  and  embalmed 
him.  He  was  laid  in  a  tomb  in  Abydos,  and  a  sycamore 
tree  grew  and  enclosed  his  body.  Then  through  inter- 
course with  his  mummy,  according  to  the  oldest  version 
of  the  story  in  the  Pyramid  Texts,  Isis  conceived  and 
brought  forth  Horus,  a  personification  of  the  Sun,  who 
through  his  radiance  awakens  the  dead  vegetation  to  new 
life.  When  Horus  grew  up,  he  fought  with  Set  to  avenge 
his  father's  death.  He  lost  an  eye  in  the  conflict,  but 
finally  overthrew  his  foe.  By  means  of  his  torn-out  eye 
he  roused  the  spirit  of  his  father,  and  made  him  a  ba. 
Set  was  then  tried  before  a  tribunal  of  the  gods,  and 
was  convicted,  while  Osiris  was  vindicated.  As  a  reward 
of  his  virtue  he  received  the  sovereignty  of  the  Under- 
world.     "He  entered  the   secret  gates  in  the  splendid 


172  SPIRITISM  v 

precincts  of  the  lords  of  eternity,  at  the  going  down  of 
him  who  rises  in  the  horizon,  upon  the  ways  of  Re  in  the 
Great  Seat."  32 

Osiris  was  thus  a  prototype  of  the  experience  of  every 
mortal.     He  was  the  "first  born  from  the  dead."     Fol- 
lowing his  example,  men  also  might  hope  to  attain  to 
the  spirit-life  that  he  enjoyed  in  Hades.      If  the  same 
rites  were  performed  for  them  that  were  performed  for 
him,  the  same  magic  words  uttered,  the  same  funereal 
ceremonies  observed,  they  would  be  as  efficacious  as  they 
had  been  in  his  case.     Osiris  thus  became  pre-eminently 
the  god  of  the  dead;  and  the  human  elements  of  his  cult, 
his  death,  the  mourning  of  his  wife  and  his  sister,  the 
self-sacrifice  and  filial  devotion  of  his  son,  and  his  resur- 
rection, appealed  so  strongly  to  the  imagination,  that  al- 
ready in  pre-dynastic  times  he  became  the  favourite  god 
of  the  common  people  throughout  the  whole  of  Egypt.  In 
process  of  time  the  worshipper  was  identified  so  com- 
pletely  with   the    god   that  his   disembodied   spirit   was 
addressed  as  Osiris.     Through  the  proper  sacramental 
rites  he  had  become  one  with  Osiris,  and  shared  in  all 
his  post-mortem  experiences.     This  conception  of  the  ex- 
istence of  the  dead  in  the  Nether  World  is  irreconcilable 
with  the  more  ancient  belief  that  they  live  in  the  tomb, 
but  both  beliefs  flourished  side  by  side  throughout  the 
whole  course  of  Egyptian  history. 

3.  The  Dead  Live  in  the  Sky. — This  was  the  doctrine 
of  the  Solar  theology  that  had  its  chief  centre  at  Heli- 
opolis.  Here  the  sun-god  Re  was  the  supreme  divinity. 
As  early  as  the  IVth  dynasty  his  name  appears  as  an 
element  in  the  names  of  the  kings  Dedef-Re,  Khaf-Re, 
Menku-Re.  The  pyramid  was  his  sacred  emblem,  and 
the  tombs  of  the  kings  of  this  dynasty  were,  therefore, 
pyramidal  in  form.  From  the  Vth  dynasty  onward  the 
Pharaohs  assumed  the  title  "Son  of  Re,"  and  claimed 

82  For  the  later  forms  of  the   myth  of  Osiris  and   for  its  Oriental  parallels  see 
J.   G.   Frazer,  Adonis,  Attis,  Osiris,  London,    1907. 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  173 

to  be  physically  descended  from  the  sun-god.  For  per- 
sons of  this  celestial  origin  an  abode  in  the  Underworld 
was  inappropriate,  hence  the  priests  of  Heliopolis  de- 
veloped the  doctrine  that  the  deceased  monarch  did  not 
enter  the  gloomy  realm  of  Osiris,  but  joined  his  father 
Re  in  the  sky.  This  is  the  message  of  the  Pyramid  Texts. 
The  pyramid  is  adjured  not  to  admit  Osiris  or  any  of 
his  company  when  they  come  "with  an  evil  coming."  To 
the  dead  king  it  is  said :  "Thou  lookest  down  upon  Osiris 
commanding  the  glorious  dead.  There  thou  standest, 
being  far  from  him;  for  thou  art  not  of  them  (the  dead), 
thou  belongest  not  among  them."  "Re  has  freed  King 
Teti  from  Kherti,  he  has  not  given  him  to  Osiris."  In 
this  theology  the  basis  of  the  hope  of  resurrection  is 
not  the  revival  of  vegetation,  as  in  the  Osirian  system, 
but  is  the  daily  rising  again  of  the  sun  from  the  death 
into  which  he  sinks  during  the  night.  "This  King  Pepi 
lives  as  lives  Re,  who  has  entered  the  west  of  the  sky, 
when  he  rises  in  the  east  of  the  sky."  The  home  of  the 
soul  is  no  longer  in  the  west  where  the  sun  goes  down, 
as  in  the  Osirian  theology,  but  in  the  east  where  the 
sun  rises. 

In  order  to  reach  the  abode  of  Re  the  deceased  mon- 
arch has  to  be  ferried  across  the  "Lily  Lake"  eastward, 
just  as  those  who  go  down  to  Dewat  have  to  be  ferried 
westward.  In  case  that  the  ferryman  is  unwilling  to 
carry  him  over,  the  king  is  provided  by  the  Pyramid 
Texts  with  all  sorts  of  arguments  and  charms  to  compel 
him;  or  if  these  are  unsuccessful,  he  may  cross  on  a  pre- 
historic catamaran,  or  may  fly  over  like  a  wild  goose. 
Arrived  on  the  eastern  side,  he  finds  the  ladder  on  which 
the  sun-god  climbs  up  from  the  horizon  to  the  zenith. 
Up  this  he  ascends,  supported  on  the  arms  of  assisting 
gods.  At  the  zenith  he  finds  the  palace  of  his  father 
Re,  whose  gates  open  wide  before  him.  Heralds  an- 
nounce his  coming,  and  he  is  admitted  to  the  fellowship 
of   his   heavenly   father.      He    becomes    mystically   one 


i74  SPIRITISM  v 

with   Re,  so  that  he  himself  is   addressed   as   Re,   and 
shares  in  all  the  sun-god's  experiences. 

In  the  Pyramid  Texts  the  solar  hereafter  is  limited  to 
the  king  who  has  the  blood  of  Re  in  his  veins.  The  de- 
scriptions of  his  beatification  are  found  only  in  the  royal 
pyramids.  The  nobles  of  the  Old  Empire  made  no 
use  of  these  texts  in  their  tombs.  In  the  Middle  Empire, 
however,  other  persons  besides  the  monarch  began  to 
employ  these  liturgies,  and  the  hope  of  a  solar  immor- 
ality eventually  became  the  possession  of  all  Egyptians. 
These  three  heterogeneous  and  irreconcilable  concep- 
tions of  the  future  life,  that  it  was  spent  in  the  Grave,  in 
the  Underworld,  and  in  the  Sky,  lasted  side  by  side 
down  to  the  latest  times,  and  mingled  with  one  another 
in  the  mortuary  texts  in  the  wildest  confusion.  Even 
as  early  as  the  Pyramid  Texts  Osirian  elements  intruded 
:  themselves  into  the  Heliopolitan  doctrine  of  the  Solar 
I  hereafter  of  the  Pharaoh.  The  dead  monarch  is  ad- 
dressed as  "Osiris,  lord  of  Dewat."  At  the  beginning  of 
sections  he  is  called  Osiris,  King  Unis,  Osiris,  King  Pepi, 
etc.,  although  in  the  body  of  the  utterances  there  is  no 
mention  of  Osiris  or  of  his  realm,  but  the  contents  are 
entirely  Solar.  Some  passages  are  found  in  the  earliest 
pyramids  that  are  purely  Solar,  but  in  later  pyramids 
they  have  been  Osirianised.  Evidently  the  king  wished 
to  take  no  chances  in  the  future  life.  If  any  benefit 
was  to  be  derived  from  the  Osirian  ritual,  he  wished  to 
enjoy  it  in  conjunction  with  that  received  from  the  Solar 
ritual.  The  Pyramid  Texts  show  as  a  whole  the  Solar 
theology  with  a  strong  tincture  of  the  Osirian.  The 
Coffin  Texts  of  the  Middle  Empire,  and  the  Book  of  the 
Dead  of  the  New  Empire,  on  the  contrary,  show  a 
fundamentally  Osirian  doctrine  with  the  intrusion  of 
numerous  Solar  elements.  The  one  point  of  contact  be- 
tween the  two  systems  is  that  the  sun  goes  down  into  the 
Underworld  at  night.  On  this  small  foundation  rest  all  the 
attempts   that   are  made   to   combine   theoretically   the 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  175 

Solar  and  the  Osirian  eschatologies.  The  primitive  doc- 
trine that  the  soul  remains  with  the  body  in  the  tomb 
persists  both  in  the  Solar  and  in  the  Osirian  faiths  and 
in  all  combinations  of  the  two.  The  only  attempts  at 
harmonization  are  the  picturing  of  the  future  life, 
whether  in  Heaven  or  in  Hades,  in  terms  of  the  existence 
of  the  mummy  in  the  tomb.  Order  is  never  introduced 
into  the  confusion,  but  the  picture  of  the  future  life  re- 
mains to  the  end  a  wild,  unorganized  phantasmagoria. 

g.  Deification  of  the  Dead. — From  the  earliest  times 
the  Egyptian  kings  were  deified  during  their  lifetimes. 
In  no  country  of  the  world  did  emperor-worship  attain 
such  a  magnificent  and  consistent  development  as  in 
Egypt.  The  cults  of  living  kings  in  Babylonia,  among 
the  Greeks  in  the  Seleucid  period,  and  in  Rome,  were 
but  feeble  imitations  of  the  Egyptian  model.  Already  in 
the  Old  Empire  the  King  was  regarded  as  the  physical 
off-spring  of  the  sun-god.  The  only  distinction  between 
him  and  the  other  gods  was  that  they  were  called  "great 
god,"  while  he  was  called  "good  god."  The  noble  of 
the  period  spoke  of  himself  as  "beloved  of  his  god," 
meaning  the  Pharaoh.  The  king  was  regarded  as  an 
incarnation  of  the  sun-god  on  earth.  His  palace  was 
called  the  "horizon,"  when  he  appeared  in  public  he  was 
said  to  "rise,"  and  when  he  died  he  was  said  to  "set"; 
but  he  had  no  temples  dedicated  to  him,  and  received  no 
sacrifices  at  the  hands  of  priests,  at  least  in  the  early 
period. 

In  foreign  countries,  however,  that  were  conquered  by 
Egypt,  such  as  Nubia  and  Syria,  temples  were  built  to 
him  alongside  of  his  father  Re,  and  a  regular  sacrificial 
cult  was  kept  up.  In  the  famous  Tell  el-Amarna  letters, 
that  were  written  by  kings  in  Canaan  to  the  Egyptian 
kings  Amenhotep  III  and  Amenhotep  IV  about  1400 
B.C.,  we  learn  that  the  image  of  the  Pharaoh  was  set 
up  in  certain  cities  together  with  that  of  Amon-Re;  and 
that  on  stated  occasions  the  Syrian  princes  were  required 


A 


176  SPIRITISM  v 

to  pay  homage  to  it.  The  writers  of  these  letters  address 
the  king  as  "my  lord,  the  lord  of  the  lands,  my  father, 
my  sun,  the  sun  of  heaven,  the  sun  of  the  lands,  my  god, 
the  breath  of  my  life."  The  worship  of  the  king  seems 
to  have  consisted  chiefly  in  the  burning  of  incense;  hence 
when  a  beleaguered  town  wished  to  surrender,  it  signi- 
fied this  by  holding  up  a  lighted  censer  on  its  battlements.33 

These  deified  monarchs  naturally  remained  deities  after 
death,  and  even  rose  to  the  higher  rank  of  "great  god" 
by  becoming  one  with  Re  or  Osiris.  The  cult  of  ancient 
kings  is  mentioned  repeatedly  in  the  inscriptions  of  their 
successors.  A  text  of  Sesostris  III  of  the  Xllth  dynasty 
at  Mount  Sinai  reads:  "Ameni,  favourite  of  Hathor, 
mistress  of  the  malachite  country,  of  Soped,  lord  of  the 
East,  of  Snefru,  lord  of  the  highlands,  and  of  the  gods 
and  goddesses  who  are  in  this  land."  Here  King  Snefru 
of  the  Hid  dynasty,  one  of  the  earliest  monarchs  to  mine 
copper  at  Sinai,  is  regarded  as  a  god  of  the  region  on  an 
equal  footing  with  Hathor  and  Soped.  He  appears  in  the 
same  capacity  in  an  inscription  of  Amenemhet  III  of  the 
Xllth  dynasty.34 

Besides  the  kings,  ancient  worthies  who  were  distin- 
guished for  their  wisdom  or  for  their  virtue  were  deified 
by  posterity.  Among  these  was  Imhotep,  the  architect 
of  King  Zoser  of  the  Hid  dynasty,  who  was  famous  also 
as  a  physician.  His  tomb  near  the  step-pyramid  of  his 
royal  master  at  Sakkara  was  early  visited  by  the  sick 
who  sought  healing  from  him.  In  Greek  times  a  temple 
was  built  on  this  site,  and  a  complete  cult  was  instituted 
in  honour  of  the  sage.  The  priests  regarded  him  as 
a  son  of  Ptah,  and  the  Greeks  identified  him  with 
Asklepios,  their  god  of  healing.  His  worship  spread  over 
all  Egypt,  even  as  far  as  the  island  of  Philae  on  the 
Nubian  frontier.35  Another  deified  hero  was  Amenhotep, 
son  of  Hapi,  who  flourished  under  Amenhotep   III   of 

ssSee  Breasted,  Records,   ii.   893-8;   iii.   173,   502,   504. 

**  Ibid.,  i.   722. 

•*  See  K.   Sethe,  Imhotep   der  Asklepios   der  Aegypter,  Leipzig,   1902. 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  177 

the  XVIIIth  dynasty.  He  was  a  descendant  of  the  an- 
cient nomarchs  of  Athribis,  and  held  the  office  of  chief 
prophet  of  that  district.  He  filled  high  positions  under 
the  king  and  left  a  number  of  mortuary  inscriptions. 
He  lived  over  eighty  years,  and  became  so  famous  for 
his  wisdom  that  an  inscription  on  the  temple  of  Der 
el-Medineh  at  Thebes  says  of  him:  "His  name  shall 
abide  forever,  his  sayings  shall  not  perish."  In  the  time 
of  the  Greek  king  Ptolemy  Euergetes  II  he  was  wor- 
shipped as  a  god,  and  the  Egyptian  historian  Manetho, 
as  quoted  by  Josephus,36  says  of  him:  "He  seemed 
to  partake  of  a  divine  nature,  both  as  to  wis- 
dom and  knowledge  of  the  future."  In  the  case  of  both 
these  heroes  the  first  clear  evidence  of  their  worship 
comes  from  the  Greek  period,  still  this  was  probably 
only  a  survival  of  ancient  custom.37 

Even  ordinary  mortals  in  course  of  time  came  to  be 
identified  with  Osiris  or  with  Re  at  death,  and  therefore 
were  entitled  to  divine  homage  at  least  on  the  part  of 
their  descendants.  Children  and  children's  children  unto 
the  third  and  fourth  generation  felt  it  incumbent  upon 
them  to  care  for  the  tombs  and  to  keep  up  the  offerings 
to  the  forefathers.  The  princes  of  Hermopolis  under 
the  Xllth  dynasty  restored  the  tombs  of  ancestors  who 
had  lived  six  hundred  years  earlier,  and  recorded  their 
filial  piety  as  follows:  "He  made  it  as  a  monument  for 
his  fathers,  who  are  in  the  necropolis,  the  lords  of  the 
promontory;  restoring  what  was  found  in  ruin  and  re- 
newing what  was  found  decayed,  the  ancestors  who  were 
before  not  having  done  it."  3S  Ancestor-homage  never 
attained  the  proportions  in  Egypt  that  it  did  in  China 
because  it  was  overshadowed  by  the  cult  of  the  great 
gods,  still  it  held  its  own  as  an  important  part  of  the 
national  religion  down  to  the  latest  times.     The   rites 

38  Against   Apion,    i.    26. 

87  See   Breasted,   Records,   ii.   911-927. 

'"Ibid.,  i.  689. 


178  SPIRITISM  v 

that  are  described  in  the  following  paragraphs  are  evi- 
dence of  the  deification  of  the  dead. 

h.  Preparation  of  the  Corpse  for  Burial. — Recent 
excavations  have  shown  that  in  the  pre-dynastic  period 
the  Egyptians  took  no  such  elaborate  care  of  the  bodies 
of  the  dead  as  was  the  custom  in  later  times.  They  were 
usually  buried  without  covering  or  coffin,  rarely  with 
a  skin  or  linen  wrapping.  They  were  placed  in  the  so- 
called  "embryonic"  position,  with  the  knees  drawn  up 
closely  under  the  chin,  lying  on  the  right  side,  with 
the  head  turned  toward  the  north,  and  the  face  toward 
the  east,  the  region  of  the  rising  sun. 

This  lasted  under  the  Thinite  kings  of  the  first  two 
dynasties,  but  under  the  pyramid-builders  of  the  Old 
Kingdom  the  practice  of  embalming  came  into  general 
use.  The  entrails  were  removed,  and  were  placed  in  four 
so-called  "canopic"  jars,  whose  covers  were  respectively 
the  head  of  a  man,  of  an  ape,  of  a  jackal,  and  of  a  hawk, 
representing  four  genii,  the  children  of  Horus,  who 
guarded  the  dead.  The  body  was  soaked  in  salt  water, 
and  was  dipped  in  bitumen.  The  abdominal  cavity  was 
stuffed  with  cloths  saturated  with  various  preservative 
substances.  The  body  was  then  wrapped  in  numerous 
bandages,  and  the  process  of  mummification  was  com- 
plete. Embalming  varied  all  the  way  from  the  simplest 
pickling  in  the  case  of  the  poor  to  the  long  and  expensive 
treatment  that  was  bestowed  upon  kings  and  nobles. 
Sebni,  a  noble  who  lived  under  Pepi  II  of  the  Vlth 
dynasty  (c.  2500  B.C.),  records  how  his  father,  Mekhu, 
perished  in  an  expedition  against  Nubia;  how  he  set  out 
with  troops  and  with  one  hundred  asses  loaded  with  gifts 
in  order  to  secure  his  father's  body  for  embalmment.  He 
succeeded  in  pacifying  the  country  and  in  rescuing  the 
body.  As  he  was  coming  down  the  river,  he  was  met 
by  an  official  who  brought  "embalmers,  the  chief  ritual 
priest,  .  .  .  the  mourners  and  all  offerings  of  the 
White  House.     He  brought  festival  oil  from  the  double 


V  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  179 

White  House,  and  secret  things  from  the  double  w'bt 
house,  .  .  .  from  the  'h'  house,  clothing  of  the  double 
White  House,  and  all  the  burial  equipment  which  is 
issued  from  the  court,  like  the  issuance  for  the  hereditary 
prince,  Meru."  39  It  was  the  custom  of  the  kings  to 
make  gifts  for  embalming  to  deserving  subjects.  A  certain 
Zau  records  that  at  the  death  of  his  father  Pepi  II  "be- 
stowed a  coffin,  clothing,  and  festival  perfume  for  this 
Zau.  His  majesty  caused  that  the  custodian  of  the  royal 
domain  should  bring  a  coffin  of  wood,  festival  perfume, 
5//-01I,  two  hundred  pieces  of  prime  linen,  and  of  fine 
southern  linen,  taken  from  the  double  White  House  of 
the  court  for  this  Zau."40 

From  this  time  onward  embalming  continued  to  be 
the  custom  until  the  triumph  of  Christianity  in  Egypt. 
Mummies  are  frequently  mentioned  in  the  inscriptions, 
and  the  Old  Testament  narrates  how  the  bodies  of  Jacob 
and  of  Joseph  were  embalmed  in  Egypt  in  order  that 
they  might  be  carried  to  Canaan.41 

Thousands  of  mummies  of  kings,  of  nobles,  and  of 
private  citizens  of  all  periods  have  lasted  down  to  the 
present  time,  and  are  preserved  in  the  museums  of  Egypt, 
Europe,  and  America.  During  the  unsettled  period  of 
the  XXIst  dynasty  when  the  decline  of  Egypt  had  begun, 
the  authorities  were  no  longer  able  to  protect  the  tombs 
of  the  ancient  Pharaohs,  and  they  were  frequently  rifled. 
To  prevent  further  desecration  the  mummies  of  the  great 
kings  of  the  XVIIIth  and  XlXth  dynasties  were 
removed  from  their  resting  places,  and  were  secreted 
in  a  rocky  cleft  near  Der  el-Bahri.  Here  they  were 
discovered  in  1871  by  modern  tomb-robbers,  who  man- 
aged to  keep  their  secret  from  the  Government  until 
1 88 1,  when  they  were  tracked,  and  the  royal  mummies 
were  discovered  and  placed  in  the  museum  at  Cairo. 
Here  one  may  now  look  upon  the  face  of  Thutmose  III, 

39  Breasted,  Records,  i.   370 

*°  Ibid.,   i.    382. 

"Genesis,  50:1-3,   13,  26;   Ex.   13:19;  Josh.  24:32. 


180  SPIRITISM  v 

the  Asiatic  conqueror  (1500  B.C.);  Thutmose  IV,  his 
grandson;  Seti  I,  of  the  XlXth  dynasty;  Ramses  II,  his 
son,  the  Pharaoh  who  oppressed  the  children  of  Israel. 

At  the  various  times  when  these  mummies  were  trans- 
ferred from  one  hiding-place  to  another,  inscriptions  were 
placed  upon  them  by  the  later  kings  who  attended  to  the 
business.  Thus  the  mummies  of  Ahmose  I,  Amenhotep 
I,  Thutmose  II,  Seti  I,  Ramses  II,  and  Ramses  III  all 
bear  dockets  of  Paynozem  I,  Menkhepperre,  or  Payno- 
zem  II  of  the  XXIst  dynasty.42 

Enclosed  in  the  wrappings  of  the  mummies  was  the 
most  costly  jewelry.  Specimens  that  have  been  recov- 
ered from  the  Middle  Kingdom  show  an  excellence 
of  workmanship  that  has  scarcely  been  surpassed  in 
modern  times.  Among  the  treasures  of  the  Cairo  Museum 
are  the  ornaments  of  the  princess  Sit-Hathor  (Xllth 
dynasty),  princess  Khnumet,  and  princess  Ita.  The 
largest  and  most  extraordinary  collection  was  found  with 
the  mummy  of  Queen  Ahhotep,  the  mother  of  Ahmose 
I.43  The  confession  of  a  tomb-robber  under  the  XXth 
dynasty  states:      "We  found  the  august  mummy  of  this 

king There  was  a  numerous  list  of  amulets  and 

ornaments  of  gold  at  its  throat;  its  head  had  a  mask 
of  gold  upon  it;  the  august  mummy  of  this  king  was  over- 
laid with  gold  throughout.  Its  coverings  were  wrought 
with  gold  and  silver,  within  and  without;  inlaid  with 
every  splendid  costly  stone.  We  stripped  off  the  gold 
which  we  found  on  the  august  mummy  of  this  god,  and 
its  amulets  and  ornaments  which  were  at  its  throat,  and 
the  coverings  wherein  it  rested." 

Herodotus,  ii.  86-88,  gives  an  elaborate  account  of 
embalming  as  it  was  practised  in  Egypt  in  his  day  (484- 
424  B.C.).  He  says  that  there  was  a  professional 
class  of  embalmers  who  prepared  first,  second,  or  third 
class  mummies  according  to  the  price  paid.      "The  mode 

"Breasted,   Records,    iv.   637-642,   644-647,    663-668. 
*»  Baedeker,  Egypt,6  pp.  82-83. 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  181 

of  embalming  according  to  the  most  perfect  process  is 
the  following: — They  take  first  a  crooked  piece  of  iron, 
and  with  it  draw  out  the  brain  through  the  nostrils,  thus 
getting  rid  of  a  portion,  while  the  skull  is  cleared  of  the 
rest  by  rinsing  with  drugs ;  next  they  make  a  cut  along  the 
flank  with  a  sharp  Ethiopian  stone,  and  take  out  the  whole 
contents  of  the  abdomen,  which  they  then  cleanse,  wash- 
ing it  thoroughly  with  palm-wine,  and  again  frequently 
with  an  infusion  of  pounded  aromatics.  After  this  they 
fill  the  cavity  with  the  purest  bruised  myrrh,  with  cassia, 
and  every  other  sort  of  spicery  except  frankincense,  and 
sew  up  the  opening.  Then  the  body  is  placed  in  natrum 
for  seventy  days  and  covered  entirely  over.  After  the 
expiration  of  that  space  of  time,  which  must  not  be  ex- 
ceeded, the  body  is  washed,  and  wrapped  round  from 
head  to  foot  with  bandages  of  fine  linen  cloth  smeared 
over  with  gum,  which  is  used  generally  by  the  Egyptians 
in  the  place  of  glue.  .  .  .  Such  is  the  most  costly  way 
of  embalming  the  dead."  He  then  goes  on  to  describe 
the  second  and  the  third  class  methods  of  embalmment. 
In  all  probability  this  method  had  been  transmitted  with 
punctilious  exactness  from  high  antiquity.  The  pro- 
cesses of  manufacturing  and  of  transporting  mummies  as 
depicted  in  the  reliefs  on  the  tombs  may  be  seen  in  Wilkin- 
son's Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians, 
vol.  iii.  chap.  xvi. 

The  process  of  mummification  was  accompanied  at 
every  point  with  recitation  of  ritual  texts  for  the  benefit 
of  the  spirit  of  the  deceased.  Inscriptions  of  the  Old 
Kingdom  mention  along  with  the  embalmers  the  chief 
ritual  priest  and  two  subordinate  classes  of  religious  func- 
tionaries whose  duties  are  not  clearly  understood.  The 
ritual  of  embalming  has  come  down  to  us  only  in  a  late 
form.  Apparently  the  priests  impersonated  the  gods 
who  embalmed  the  body  of  Osiris,  and  the  texts  recited 
affirmed  the  identity  of  the  departed  with  Osiris. 

In  the  Old  Kingdom  it  was  customary  to  enclose  the 


182  SPIRITISM  v 

mummy  in  a  wooden  coffin  within  a  stone  sarcophagus. 
This  was  generally  a  simple  polished  chest  with  a  flat 
cover;  or  else,  probably  in  imitation  of  the  coffin  of  Osiris, 
it  had  four  corner  posts  and  a  dome-shaped  cover.  Some- 
times it  was  decorated  to  represent  a  tomb  of  the  earliest 
period  with  a  number  of  doors.  Opposite  the  face  of  the 
mummy  a  pair  of  eyes  was  often  painted  so  as  to  enable 
it  to  behold  the  rising  sun.  The  tomb  inscription  of 
Weshptah,  who  flourished  under  Neferirkere  of  the  Vth 
dynasty,  states  that  the  king  presented  him  with  an  ebony 
coffin.  Hotephiryakhet  under  the  next  monarch  states 
that  the  king  honoured  him  with  a  stone  sarcophagus. 
Nezemib  a  little  later  also  received  a  sarcophagus,  and 
a  relief  that  accompanies  the  inscription  shows  the  heavy 
sarcophagus  and  its  lid  being  transported  across  the  river 
on  a  barge.  Uni,  a  servant  of  Mernere  of  the  Vlth 
dynasty,  narrates:  "His  majesty  sent  me  to  Ibhet,  to 
bring  the  sarcophagus  (named)  'Chest  of  the  Living,' 
together  with  its  lid  and  the  costly,  splendid  pyramidion 
for  the  pyramid  (called)  'Mernere  Shines  and  is  Beauti- 
ful' of  the  Queen."44 

In  the  Middle  Kingdom  the  coffins  were  elaborately 
decorated  with  paint,  and  the  insides  were  covered  with 
religious  texts  similar  to  the  Pyramid  Texts  designed 
to  facilitate  the  entrance  of  the  deceased  into  the  other 
world.  Before  the  coffins  were  put  together  the  boards 
were  hastily  and  carelessly  covered  by  a  scribe  with  a  selec- 
tion of  passages  furnished  by  the  local  priests.  Chap- 
ters were  often  repeated,  and  in  one  case  the  same  chapter 
is  found  five  times  in  a  single  coffin.  The  chief  thought 
seems  to  have  been  to  cover  the  surface  with  some  sort 
of  a  religious  text.  Among  these  are  passages  taken 
from  the  Pyramid  Texts  which  originally  were  intended 
only  for  the  king,  but  were  now  applied  also  to  the  aris- 
tocracy. Other  passages  were  taken  from  more  popular 
Osirian  funerary  rituals,  and  were  the  forerunners  of  the 

**  Breasted,  Records,  i.  247,  253,  27Sf.,  321. 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  183 

material  that  subsequently  made  up  the  Book  of  the  Dead. 
No  two  coffins  agree  in  the  selections  that  are  made  and 
new  texts  are  constantly  being  discovered.45 

In  the  New  Empire  the  fashion  arose  of  shaping  the 
outer  sarcophagus  in  the  form  of  a  mummy.  The 
face  was  shown,  and  was  sometimes  a  portrait  of  the 
deceased.  It  was  decorated  with  imitation  bandages  in 
the  form  of  lattice  work,  and  the  intervening  spaces  were 
filled  with  pictures  of  the  gods,  scenes  from  the  other 
world,  and  fragments  of  texts.  Some  of  the  earlier 
mummy-cases  look  as  if  they  were  wrapped  in  wings. 
The  symbolism  refers  to  the  myth  of  Isis  who  enveloped 
the  dead  Osiris  with  her  wings.  These  mummy-cases 
were  manufactured  by  the  wholesale,  and  spaces  were 
left  on  them  to  be  filled  in  with  the  name  of  the  deceased. 
In  a  number  of  cases  the  undertakers  have  neglected  to 
fill  up  this  space. 

i.  Graves  and  Tombs. — The  graves  of  the  common 
people  in  the  pre-dynastic  period  were  simple  shallow 
trenches  in  which  the  body  was  placed  in  the  "embryonic" 
position,  lying  on  its  side  with  its  face  toward  the  east. 
The  trench  was  filled  in  with  sand,  and  a  small  heap  of 
sand  and  stones  was  reared  over  it.  Care  was  taken  to 
place  graves  above  the  annual  inundation  of  the  Nile, 
and  a  preference  was  shown  for  the  west  bank  of  the 
river,  the  region  in  which  the  sun  went  down  into  the 
Underworld;  hence  the  name  "Westerners"  for  the  dead. 
Ancient  cemeteries  are  found  all  along  the  edge  of  the 
desert  in  Upper  Egypt,  and  thousands  of  these  prehis- 
toric sepulchres  have  been  excavated  in  recent  years. 
Slightly  more  elaborate  forms  of  burial  are  to  roof  the 
grave  over  with  branches,  to  invert  a  large  pottery  bowl 
over  the  body,  to  place  it  inside  of  a  jar,  or  to  line  the 
tomb  with  brick  and  place  a  flat  stone  slab  over  it.  A 
still  finer  method  was  to  sink  a  short  shaft  in  the  rock, 

"  A    large    collection    of    these    so-called    "Coffin    Texts"    has   been    published    by 
Lacau,  Textes  religieux,  Recueil  de  travaux,  vol.  26  sq. 


1 84  SPIRITISM  v 

excavate  a  small  chamber  in  one  side  for  the  body,  wall 
up  the  opening,  fill  the  shaft  with  rocks,  and  build  a 
tumulus  over  it. 

Out  of  the  tumulus  the  mastaba  was  developed.  It 
was  a  truncated  pyramid  of  brick  through  which  the 
tomb-shaft  ran  up  to  the  top.  After  the  body  had  been 
deposited  in  the  burial  chamber  at  the  bottom  this  was 
filled  up  with  stones  and  sealed.  On  the  eastern  side 
was  a  false  door  without  any  opening  through  which  the 
spirit  passed  out  and  in.  In  front  of  this  was  a  shelf 
or  table  for  receiving  offerings  that  were  brought  by  the 
descendants  of  the  deceased.  A  further  development 
of  the  mastaba  was  the  construction  within  of  a  doorless 
chamber  for  the  portrait-statue  of  the  owner  of  the  tomb, 
and  a  chapel  for  the  presentation  of  offerings  instead  of 
the  primitive  shelf.  The  mastaba  of  Menes,  the  first 
historic  king,  contained  a  central  chamber  for  the  body 
of  the  king,  surrounded  by  four  other  chambers.  The 
nobles  of  the  Old  Kingdom  continued  to  enlarge  the 
mastabas  until  they  became  veritable  houses  with  apart- 
ments for  every  purpose.  The  tomb  of  one  official  of  the 
Vlth  dynasty  had  as  many  as  thirty-one  rooms.  The 
evident  idea  was  to  provide  the  dead  man  with  a  palace 
such  as  he  had  occupied  during  his  life. 

When  the  mastabas,  which  at  first  were  only  royal 
tombs,  began  to  become  popular  among  the  nobles,  the 
Pharaohs  commenced  constructing  pyramids  for  them- 
selves. The  first  known  pyramid  is  the  step-pyramid 
of  Zoser  of  the  Hid  dynasty  (2980  B.C.)  at  Sakkara. 
It  marks  the  transition  architecturally  from  the  mastaba 
to  the  true  pyramid,  and  is  the  first  royal  tomb  to  be  built 
of  stone.  Beginning  with  a  mastaba  of  the  usual  type,  he 
gradually  enlarged  this  as  his  reign  went  on,  until  at  the 
end  he  had  a  structure  like  a  ziggurat  of  ancient  Babylonia 
in  six  stages  with  a  height  of  one  hundred  and  ninety-five 
feet.  This  is  the  first  great  architectural  undertaking 
in  stone  that  is  recorded  by  history.     The  later  kings  of 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  185 

the  Hid  dynasty  probably  constructed  the  stone  pyramids 
of  Dahshur,  which  are  the  earliest  specimens  of  this  type 
of  architecture.  They  bear  witness  to  the  wealth  and 
power  as  well  as  the  engineering  skill  of  this  dynasty. 
Snefru,  the  last  monarch  of  the  Hid  dynasty,  probably 
built  the  terraced  pyramid  at  Medum,  and  also  the  pyra- 
mid with  a  double  slope  at  Dahshur. 

Khufu,  the  founder  of  the  IVth  dynasty  (c.  2800 
B.C.),  the  Cheops  of  the  Greeks,  was  the  builder  of  the 
Great  Pyramid  of  Gizeh  near  Cairo,  the  largest  struc- 
ture ever  reared  by  the  hand  of  man.  Originally  this 
covered  an  area  of  about  thirteen  acres.  The  length 
of  each  side  was  about  755  feet.  The  height  was  about 
481  feet.  The  altitude  of  each  sloping  side  was  about 
619  feet.  It  contained  originally  about  3,277,000  cubic 
yards  of  masonry.  Professor  Flinders  Petrie  estimates 
that  there  are  in  it  2,300,000  separate  blocks  of  stone, 
each  containing  40  cubic  feet.  These  blocks,  which  rise 
like  giant  steps,  are  about  three  feet  in  height.  The  whole 
was  covered  with  a  casing  of  dressed  stones  fitted  together 
so  closely  that  a  knife-blade  could  not  be  inserted  between 
the  joints.  Herodotus,  ii.  I24f.,  describes  the  building 
of  this  colossal  edifice.  "He  closed  the  temples,  and  for- 
bade the  Egyptians  to  offer  sacrifice,  compelling  them 
instead  to  labour,  one  and  all,  in  his  service.  Some  were 
required  to  drag  blocks  of  stone  down  to  the  Nile,  from 
the  quarries  in  the  Arabian  range  of  hills;  others  received 
the  blocks  after  they  had  been  conveyed  in  boats  across 
the  river,  and  drew  them  to  the  range  of  hills  called 
the  Libyan.  A  hundred  thousand  men  laboured  con- 
stantly, and  were  relieved  every  three  months  by  a  fresh 
lot.  It  took  ten  years  oppression  of  the  people  to  make 
the  causeway  for  the  conveyance  of  the  stones,  a  work 
not  much  inferior,  in  my  judgment,  to  the  pyramid  itself. 
This  causeway  is  five  furlongs  in  length,  ten  fathoms 
wide,  and  in  height,  at  the  highest  part,  eight  fathoms. 
It  is  built  of  polished  stone,  and  is  covered  with  carvings 


1 86  SPIRITISM  v 

of  animals.  It  took  ten  years  to  make  the  causeway,  the 
works  on  the  mound  where  the  pyramid  stands,  and  the 
underground  chambers,  which  Cheops  intended  as  vaults 
for  his  own  use.  These  last  were  built  on  a  sort  of  island, 
surrounded  by  water  introduced  from  the  Nile  by  a 
canal.  The  Pyramid  itself  was  twenty  years  in  build- 
ing." These  traditions  which  Herodotus  gathered  from 
the  Egyptians  bear  witness  to  the  awful  cost  of  human 
labour  and  suffering  at  which  these  "eternal  habitations" 
of  the  ancient  Pharaohs  were  built. 

The  two  other  pyramids  at  Gizeh,  which  are  smaller 
than  that  of  Khufu,  were  erected  by  Khafre  and  Men- 
kure,  later  kings  of  the  same  dynasty.  The  kings  of  the  Vth 
and  of  the  Vlth  dynasties  also  reared  pyramids,  less  mag- 
nificent than  those  of  their  predecessors,  but  still  extra- 
ordinarily great.  In  spite  of  the  five  thousand  years 
that  have  elapsed  since  the  first  of  these  was  built,  and 
all  the  depredations  of  succeeding  generations,  the 
pyramids  of  the  Old  Kingdom  still  stand  in  a  line  sixty 
miles  long  on  the  margin  of  the  western  desert  as  awe- 
inspiring  as  when  they  were  first  erected,  the  monuments 
of  a  titanic  effort  to  conquer  death  by  securing  an  eternal 
preservation  of  the  body. 

This  form  of  architecture  was  chosen  by  the  kings 
probably  because  the  pyramid  was  the  emblem  of  their 
father  Re,  the  sun-god.  In  his  sanctuary  at  Heliopolis 
the  most  sacred  object  was  an  ancient  pyramidal  fetish 
stone  called  the  ben.  The  pyramidal  tops  of  obelisks 
were  also  solar  emblems.  It  was  fitting  that  the  dead 
Pharaoh,  who  looked  for  a  solar  immortality,  should  lie 
in  a  tomb  that  was  itself  a  symbol  of  the  sun-god,  and 
whose  top  stone  was  a  pyramidion  of  special  sanctity. 
Architecturally  the  pyramid  was  nothing  more  than  an 
evolution  of  the  primitive  tumulus.  It  contained  merely 
the  burial  chamber  hidden  in  its  depths,  access  to  which 
was  closed  by  huge  blocks  of  stone  as  soon  as  the  body 
was  placed  within  it,  while  false  passages  were  constructed 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  187 

to  lead  astray  would-be  intruders.  There  was  no  mor- 
tuary chapel  in  the  pyramid  itself.  Instead  of  this  a 
temple  was  erected  on  the  east  side  of  the  pyramid,  where 
there  was  a  false  door  before  which  offerings  were 
presented,  and  through  which  the  spirit  of  the  royal 
dead  could  pass.  From  this  temple  a  long  causeway 
led  to  the  Nile,  with  another  temple  at  its  eastern  end. 

The  sepulchral  chamber  and  passages  of  the  older 
pyramids  were  unadorned,  but  under  the  Vth  and  Vlth 
dynasties  they  were  inscribed  with  the  so-called  Pyramid 
Texts.46  These  contain  myths  of  the  gods,  hymns,  and 
other  fragments  of  extremely  ancient  ritual,  magical 
charms  to  rouse  the  spirit  of  the  dead  and  to  give  it 
vitality  in  the  other  world,  a  ritual  of  mummification 
and  of  burial,  a  ritual  for  the  presentation  of  offerings 
at  the  tomb  pyramid,  and  collections  of  prayers  to  the 
gods  on  behalf  of  the  dead.  The  material  is  divided 
into  sections,  each  introduced  with  the  formula,  "Recite 
the  words."  The  pyramid  of  Unis  contains  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-eight  of  these  utterances.  The  later 
pyramids  bring  the  number  up  to  seven  hundred  and  four- 
teen. In  the  printed  edition  of  Sethe  they  fill  a  thousand 
and  fifty-one  quarto  pages.  Their  purpose  was  to  facili- 
tate the  attainment  of  solar  immortality  by  the  dead 
Pharaoh.  . 

The  Old  Kingdom  ended  in  ruin  and  civil  strife,  in-  | 
duced  perhaps  by  the  exactions  of  the  monarchs  for 
building  these  costly  tombs.  When,  three  hundred  years 
later,  the  nation  revived  under  the  Xlth  dynasty  (2160 
B.C.),  no  attempt  was  made  to  rival  the  efforts  of  the 
past.  The  kings  of  this  dynasty  left  small  pyramids  of 
sun-dried  bricks  on  the  edge  of  the  desert  west  of  Thebes. 
They  were  still  in  good  condition  in  the  time  of  Ramses 
IX  of  the  XXth  dynasty  when  they  were  entered  by  tomb- 
robbers,  but  they  have  disappeared  at  present.  The 
great  kings  of  the  Xllth  dynasty  contented  themselves 

«  See  p.   153. 


188  SPIRITISM  v 

also  with  modest  brick  pyramids,  all  of  which  show  the 
most  elaborate  devices  of  false  passages  and  trap-doors 
designed  to  frustrate  the  efforts  of  tomb-robbers.  These 
pyramids  still  extend  from  the  entrance  of  the  Fayum  as 
far  as  Memphis,  but  all  are  in  a  very  ruinous  condition. 

Around  the  pyramid  of  the  sovereign  were  grouped 
the  mastabas  of  his  nobles  and  of  the  royal  princes  and 
princesses.  These  lay  in  regular  lines  on  streets,  and 
formed  a  veritable  city  of  the  dead.  The  necropolis  was 
in  charge  of  an  army  of  mortuary  priests,  custodians,  and 
workmen,  the  so-called  "children  of  the  cemetery." 

During  the  Middle  Kingdom  the  nobles  began  to  aban- 
don the  mastaba  tomb  and  to  hew  out  sepulchres  for 
themselves  in  the  cliffs  that  wall  in  the  Nile  valley.  The 
finest  of  these  are  at  Benihasan  in  Middle  Egypt.47 
The  architectural  features  of  these  tombs  are  as  follows: 
first,  a  court  open  to  the  sky  in  front  of  the  tomb,  then 
a  vestibule  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock  with  pillars  supporting 
the  roof,  behind  this  a  large  hall,  also  excavated  out  of 
the  rock,  and  also  having  its  ceiling  supported  by  pillars, 
and  back  of  this  a  small  chamber  for  the  statue  of  the 
owner.  The  sepulchral  chamber  was  reached  by  a  shaft 
from  the  hall  of  columns.  The  walls  of  the  tomb  were 
decorated  with  scenes  from  domestic  life  and  with  in- 
scriptions recounting  the  life  of  the  deceased.48 

During  the  New  Empire  the  kings  abandoned  the 
pyramids  and  adopted  the  rock-tombs  of  the  nobles  of 
the  Middle  Kingdom.  These  hypogaea  differed  consider- 
ably, however,  from  the  older  type.  A  long  passage 
through  the  rock  led  to  a  series  of  chambers,  and  beyond 
these,  or  beneath  them  with  a  concealed  entrance,  was  the 
"gold  house"  in  which  the  sarcophagus  was  placed  that 
contained  the  royal  mummy.  All  the  mighty  rulers  of 
the  XVIIIth,  XlXth,  and  XXth  dynasties  were  buried  in 
such  rock-tombs  excavated  in  a  narrow  mountain  gorge 

47  See   Baedeker,  Egypt,"  p.   197. 

4S  S^e  Newberry,  Beni  Hasan;  Breasted,   Records,   i.   619  sq. 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  189 

west  of  Thebes  now  known  as  Biban  el-Muluk.  The  walls 
of  the  chambers  were  no  longer  covered  exclusively  with 
domestic  scenes,  as  in  the  earlier  rock-tombs,  but  also 
with  religious  ritual  similar  to  the  Coffin  Texts.40  The 
mortuary  chapels  were  no  longer  connected  with  the 
tombs  but  were  developed  into  splendid  temples  on  the 
other  side  of  the  mountain  at  Der  el-Bahri  or  in  the  plain. 
Several  private  tombs  have  successfully  eluded  discovery 
down  to  recent  times,  and  have  been  found  by  archaeol- 
ogists with  all  their  treasures  intact. 

;'.  Deposits  in  Tombs. — In  the  pre-dynastic  period 
there  were  buried  with  the  dead  jars  and  bowls  of  food 
and  drink  that  he  might  not  hunger  in  the  other  world, 
flint  knives  and  harpoons  so  that  he  might  hunt  and  de- 
fend himself,  clothing  and  ornaments,  slate  palettes  for 
grinding  green  malachite  face-paint,  a  bag  for  holding  the 
pieces  of  malachite,  and  even  a  draught-board  for  his 
amusement.  Already  at  this  early  period  models  were 
deposited  in  graves  instead  of  real  articles,  the  idea 
being  that  they  were  magically  converted  into  the  spiritual 
counterparts  needed  by  the  deceased.  Thus  we  find 
models  of  boats,  of  cattle,  of  hippopotami,  of  servants, 
and  of  steatopygous  women  gaily  painted,  presumably 
the  Houris  of  the  other  world.50 

The  chambers  of  the  royal  mastabas  of  the  1st  dynasty 
were  furnished  with  couches  of  ivory,  inlaid  and  carved 
tables  and  chairs  of  the  most  artistic  workmanship,  and 
marvellous  jars  made  of  the  hardest  stone  worked  out 
with  stone  tools  until  their  walls  were  as  thin  and  trans- 
lucent as  glass.  There  were  also  stores  of  food  of  all 
sorts,  and  jars  of  beer  and  of  wine  sufficient  to  last  the 
spirit  of  the  dead  king  for  many  days;  A  large  memorial 
stone  bearing  in  huge  hieroglyphics  the  name  of  the  king 
was  also  set  up  in  the  tomb.  In  small  chambers  around 
the  monarch  were  buried  the  bodies  of  his  wives,   his 


See   Baedeker,   Egypt,6  pp.   262,   sq. 
See  p.  48f. 


1 9o  SPIRITISM  v 

guards,  his  dwarfs,  and  even  his  dogs,  with  small  tablets 
bearing  their  names.  The  suspicion  is  strong  that,  as 
among  so  many  other  primitive  peoples,  these  were  slain 
in  order  to  accompany  their  lord  into  the  spirit-world. 

The  same  intellectual  processes  which  in  China  led  to 
the  substitution  of  imitations  instead  of  real  gifts  to  the 
dead,  led  also  in  Egypt  to  the  gradual  disappearance  of 
tomb-deposits.  In  the  mastabas  of  nobles  of  the  Old 
Kingdom  contemporary  with  the  great  pyramids  of  the 
Hid  to  the  Vlth  dynasties  the  food-dishes  were  reduced  to 
tiny  conventional  substitutes;  and  in  place  of  the  costly 
furniture  and  provisions,  the  walls  were  decorated  with 
pictures  of  the  things  that  the  deceased  might  need  in 
the  future  life.  By  "sympathetic  magic"  these  pictures 
produced  the  corresponding  spiritual  equivalents.  They 
showed  the  noble  in  a  skiff  with  his  wife,  hunting  wild 
fowl  with  a  boomerang,  or  spearing  a  hippopotamus  with 
a  harpoon.  Peasants  tilled  the  fields  with  yokes  of  oxen, 
reaped  the  grain  and  threshed  it.  Cattle  were  brought 
in  herds  and  were  butchered.  Women  ground  the  wheat 
into  flour,  made  bread  and  baked  it,  and  prepared  all  the 
other  dishes  for  the  noble's  table.  All  the  scenes  of  a 
busy  agricultural  and  commercial  civilization  were  rep- 
resented, and  these  pictures  form  an  inexhaustible  mine 
of  information  in  regard  to  the  life  of  the  Old  Kingdom. 
By  these  means  the  noble  hoped  to  secure  the  same  crea- 
ture-comforts in  eternity  that  he  had  enjoyed  in  time. 
He  could  take  nothing  out  of  the  world,  but  by  this  simple 
process  he  provided  himself  with  a  letter  of  credit  that 
was  negotiable  in  the  "land  of  no  return."  This  same 
custom  continued  in  the  mastabas  and  rock-tombs  of  the 
Middle  Kingdom. 

In  tombs  of  the  New  Empire,  as  we  have  seen,  these 
pictures  of  daily  life  are  replaced  by  religious  texts  and 
scenes  from  the  Underworld.  These  form  the  so-called 
"Book  of  Him  Who  is  in  the  Nether  World."  This 
describes  the  journey  of  the  sun-god  through  twelve  cav- 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  191 

erns  of  Hades  which  correspond  to  the  twelve  hours 
of  the  night.  It  tells  of  the  monsters  and  perils  that 
are  there  to  be  encountered,  and  how  they  may  be  escaped 
by  the  judicious  use  of  magical  formulas  so  that  one  may 
complete  the  journey  with  the  sun-god  and  rise  with  him 
in  newness  of  life  in  the  East.  The  material  is  similar 
to  that  of  the  Coffin  Texts  and  to  that  found  in  the 
papyrus  rolls  containing  the  Book  of  the  Dead.51 

Even  under  the  New  Empire  the  burial  of  food  and 
furniture  with  the  dead  did  not  cease.  The  tombs  of 
Yuya  and  Thuya,  the  parents  of  Tiy,  the  queen  of  Amen- 
hotep  III,  which  were  discovered  untouched  by  Mr. 
Theodore  M.  Davis  of  Newport,  R.  I.,  in  1905,  con- 
tained sumptuous  furniture  of  all  sorts.  The  same  was 
true  of  the  untouched  tomb  of  Amenhotep  II.  The  ac- 
counts of  tomb-robberies  under  the  XXth  dynasty  also 
report  that  the  thieves  "had  stolen  their  articles  of  house- 
furniture  which  had  been  given  them." 

A  curious  survival  of  the  ancient  custom  of  burying 
models  of  persons  and  things  with  the  dead  is  seen  in 
the  so-called  ushebtis,  little  glazed  pottery  figures  that 
have  been  found  in  vast  numbers  in  tombs  of  the  New 
Empire.  These  are  mostly  in  mummy  form,  and  carry 
sacks  and  hoes,  or  other  tools,  over  their  shoulders.  The 
inscription  on  them  reads:  "O,  thou  ushebti,  when  I  am 
called,  and  when  I  am  required  to  do  any  kind  of  work 
which  is  done  in  Hades  .  .  .  and  when  I  am  required 
at  any  time  to  cause  the  fields  to  flourish,  to  irrigate  the 
banks,  to  convey  sand  from  the  east  to  the  west,  thou 
shalt  say,  Here  am  I."  These  figures  are  mentioned  in 
the  Book  of  the  Dead  in  the  chapter  entitled  "Causing 
that  the  Ushebti  Do  the  Work  of  a  Man  in  Dewat."  The 
idea  evidently  was  that  King  Osiris  might  call  upon  his 
subjects  to  work  in  the  Elysian  Fields.  The  aristocrat, 
who  had  no  taste  for  this  sort  of  labour,  provided  for  the 
emergency  by  having  great  numbers  of  ushebtis  on  hand 

"  See  G.  Jequier,  Le  livre  de  ce  qu'il  y  a  dans  I'Hades,  Paris,   1894. 


192  SPIRITISM  v 

who  through  the  power  of  the  magic  formula  inscribed 
upon  them  would  take  his  place  when  they  were  sum- 
moned. 

Another  peculiarity  of  the  mortuary  customs  of  the 
New  Empire  was  the  burial  of  numerous  amulets  and 
other  magical  objects  with  the  deceased.  One  of  these 
was  the  "Horus-eye,"  an  imitation  in  blue  or  green  enamel 
or  in  precious  stone  of  the  plucked-out  eye  of  Horus  with 
which  he  had  resuscitated  his  father  Osiris.  Another  was 
the  so-called  heart-scarab,  which  was  designed  to  take 
the  place  of  the  heart  of  the  dead  man  when  it  was 
weighed  in  the  judgment  before  Osiris.  These  scarabs 
were  inscribed  with  the  words:  "O  heart  that  I  have 
from  my  mother!  O  heart  that  belongs  to  my  spirit! 
Do  not  appear  against  me  as  a  witness,  do  not  oppose  me 
before  the  judges,  do  not  contradict  me  before  him  who 
governs  the  balance."  Still  another  magical  object  was 
the  small  stone  pyramid  that  was  frequently  placed  in 
tombs  of  the  New  Empire.  It  was  made  with  two  doors 
on  opposite  sides,  in  which  the  deceased  was  represented 
adoring  the  rising  and  the  setting  sun.  Through  this 
solar  emblem  it  was  hoped  that  the  soul  would  be  united 
with  the  sun-god  in  his  rising  as  well  as  in  his  setting. 
Besides  these  there  were  pectorals  placed  on  the  breast 
of  the  mummy,  sceptres,  crowns,  head-dresses  of  the  gods, 
head-rests,  squares,  levels,  staircases,  etc.  A  late  text 
enumerates  one  hundred  and  four  articles  of  this  sort 
that  are  necessary  for  the  repose  of  the  soul.52 

Of  similar  character  were  the  papyrus  rolls  containing 
magical  texts  that  during  this  period  were  deposited  with 
the  dead.  The  rolls  contained  a  few  fragments  of  the 
Pyramid  Texts,  large  selections  from  the  Coffin  Texts, 
and  additional  material  from  other  sources.  There  was 
no  standard  edition  in  this  period,  but  the  scribes  made 
at  pleasure  excerpts  from  the  sources  at  their  disposal. 
Some    rolls   were   eighty   feet  long,    and   contained   one 

62  See  Erman,  Religion,  pp.   140-147. 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  193 

hundred  and  thirty  chapters;  others  were  small,  and  con- 
tained only  the  most  important  chapters.  These  con- 
stituted the  so-called  Book  of  the  Dead.  It  was  a  sort 
of  guide-book  to  the  Underworld,  and  contained  the 
charms  that  were  necessary  to  bring  one  safely  through 
the  perils  of  that  realm.  The  finer  rolls  were  magnifi- 
cently illustrated  with  coloured  vignettes  depicting  scenes 
in  Hades.  These  help  to  explain  the  obscure  text,  and 
are  a  rich  mine  of  information  in  regard  to  the  mythologi- 
cal conceptions  of  the  ancient  Egyptians. 

The  wealth  that  was  buried  with  the  dead  in  all  periods 
was  a  constant  temptation  to  rob  graves,  in  spite  of  the 
heavy  legal  penalties  and  the  terrors  of  religion.  Most 
of  the  tombs  of  the  Old  Kingdom  were  violated  during 
the  period  of  disorder  that  followed  the  Vlth  dynasty; 
those  of  the  Middle  Kingdom,  during  the  period  of  the 
Hyksos;  and  those  of  the  New  Kingdom,  during  the  de- 
cline that  followed  the  XXth  dynasty.  Sporadic  robbery 
went  on  all  the  time,  so  that  it  is  a  rare  event  when  an 
unviolated  tomb  is  discovered  by  an  archaeologist.  Even 
the  Pharaohs  Ramses  II  and  Merneptah  did  not  scruple 
to  steal  the  mortuary  furniture  of  their  predecessors. 

Under  Ramses  IX  of  the  XXth  dynasty  there  was  an 
epidemic  of  robberies  at  the  royal  tombs  in  the  necrop- 
olis of  Thebes,  in  which  even  officials  of  the  Government 
were  involved.  The  Papyrus  Abbott  contains  a  record 
of  the  royal  investigations  and  legal  proceedings  at  this 
time.  After  a  detailed  report  of  individual  tombs  ex- 
amined, there  follows  this  summary:  "These  are  the 
tombs  and  sepulchres  in  which  the  nobles,  the  .  .  .,  the 
Theban  women,  and  the  people  of  the  land  rest,  on  the 
west  of  the  city;  it  was  found  that  the  thieves  had  broken 
into  them  all,  that  they  had  pulled  out  their  occupants 
from  their  coverings  and  coffins,  they  (the  occupants)  be- 
ing thrown  upon  the  ground;  and  that  they  had  stolen 
their  articles  of  house-furniture,  which  had  been  given 
them,  together  with  the  gold,  the  silver,  and  the  orna- 


1 94  SPIRITISM  V 

ments  which  were  in  their  coverings."  53  The  culprits  were 
found  and  were  punished  at  this  time,  but  the  tomb-rob- 
beries continued,  and  the  Government  was  powerless  to 
prevent  them.  It  was  this  miserable  state  of  affairs  that 
led  to  the  removal  of  the  royal  mummies  from  their  tombs 
and  concealment  in  the  rock  cleft  near  Der  el-Bahri,  where 
they  were  found  in  1 88 1 . 

k.  Shrines  for  the  Cult  of  the  Dead. — The  earliest 
holy  place  was  the  grave  itself  on  which  offerings  were 
laid  and  ceremonies  were  performed.  The  next  stage 
of  development  was  a  shelf  in  front  of  the  false  door 
of  the  mastaba  on  which  gifts  for  the  occupant  of  the 
tomb  were  placed.  A  further  evolution  carried  the  false 
door  back  into  the  interior  of  the  tomb  so  as  to  leave 
a  small  mortuary  chapel  in  front  of  it.  Still  later  the 
chapel  was  separated  from  the  tomb  in  the  form  of  an 
independent  edifice  built  against  the  east  side,  as  was  the 
case  in  the  royal  pyramids.  The  final  stage  of  the  de- 
velopment was  the  erection  of  a  mortuary  temple  at 
some  distance  from  the  tomb,  as  was  the  practice  of  the 
Pharaohs  of  the  New  Kingdom.  The  temples  in  front 
of  the  great  pyramids  of  Gizeh  were  no  less  remarkable 
than  the  pyramids  themselves,  if  we  may  judge  from  the 
scanty  remains  that  excavation  has  disclosed.  The 
kings  of  the  Middle  Empire,  in  proportion  as  they  de- 
creased the  size  of  their  pyramids,  increased  the  magnifi- 
cence of  their  mortuary  temples.  The  nobles  of  the  same 
period,  who  constructed  the  rock-tombs,  had,  besides  the 
chapels  in  these  tombs,  also  mortuary  chapels  in  their 
native  towns  for  the  easier  celebration  of  the  rites  of  their 
worship. 

Amenhotep  I  of  the  XVIIIth  dynasty  was  the  last  king 
to  construct  a  mortuary  chapel  in  front  of  his  tomb.  His 
successors,  in  order  to  escape  desecration  of  their  graves, 
concealed  them  in  the  Biban  el-Muluk  near  Thebes  on 
the  west  side  of  the  cliffs  that  enclose  the  Nile  valley, 

M  Breasted,  Records,  iv.  499-556. 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  195 

at  a  distance  of  two  miles  from  the  river,  and  accessible 
only  by  a  circuitous  path.  The  temples  for  their  worship 
were  erected  in  the  plain  on  the  east  side  of  the  mountain. 
Thus  the  orientation  of  the  ancient  tombs  was  preserved, 
although  a  long  distance  separated  the  grave  from  the 
sanctuary.  The  magnificent  unfinished  temple  of  Queen 
Hatshepsut  at  Der  el-Bahri  opposite  Thebes,  the  finest 
of  all  the  cliff-temples  of  Egypt,  was  built  for  the  post- 
humous cult  of  the  Queen  and  of  her  father.  The  walls 
were  decorated  with  scenes  from  the  life  and  the  expedi- 
tions of  the  only  female  Pharaoh.54  All  the  temples 
that  cover  the  plain  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  opposite 
Thebes  (Luxor)  were  designed  for  the  worship  of  de- 
ceased monarchs  of  the  XVIIIth,  XlXth,  and  XXth 
dynasties.  They  are  as  splendid  as  any  of  the  temples 
that  were  erected  for  the  gods. 

/.  Mourning  for  the  Dead. — The  rites  of  embalm- 
ment and  of  burial  were  attended  with  an  elaborate  ritual 
of  mourning.  Thus  the  Tale  of  Sinuhe,  a  noble  who 
flourished  under  Amenemhat  I  of  the  Xllth  dynasty, 
narrates: 

"In  year  thirty,  second  month  of  first  season,  seventh  day, 
Departed  the  god  (Pharaoh)  into  his  horizon, 
The  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  Sehetepibre. 
He  ascended  to  heaven,  joined  with  the  sun; 
The  divine  limbs  were  mingled  with  him  that  begat  him. 
In  the  court  silence.  .  .  . 
The   great   double   doors   were   closed, 
The  court  sat  in  mourning, 
The  people  bowed  down  in  silence." 

in  the  case  of  Kheti,  a  noble  under  the  Xth  dynasty, 
it  is  recorded  after  his  death:  "Then  mourned  the  king 
himself,  all  Middle  Egypt,  and  the  Northland."  56  Gen. 
50:3,    10  narrate   that  the  Egyptians  mourned  seventy 

M  See  Baedeker,  Egypt,'  pp.   278-283. 
56  Breasted,  Records,  i.  491. 
"  Ibid.,  i.  414. 


196  SPIRITISM  v 

days  for  Jacob  after  his  death,  and  seven  days  at  the  time 
of  his  burial. 

An  important  part  of  the  mourning  was  the  recitation 
of  formal  laments.  The  model  for  these  was  the  la- 
ment of  Isis  over  Osiris,  a  late  form  of  which  has  come 
down  to  us.  Part  of  this  reads  as  follows:  "Come  to 
thy  house,  come  to  thy  house,  O  god  On !  Come  to  thy 
house,  thou  who  hast  no  enemies!  O  beautiful  stripling, 
come  to  thy  house  that  thou  mayest  see  me !  I  am  thy 
sister  whom  thou  lovest;  thou  shalt  not  abandon  me.  O 
beauteous  youth,  come  to  thy  house.  ...  I  see  thee  not 
and  my  heart  fears  for  thee,  mine  eyes  long  for  thee.  .  .  . 
Come  to  her  who  loves  thee,  who  loves  thee,  Wennofre, 
thou  blessed  one  !  Come  to  thy  sister,  come  to  thy  wife, 
thy  wife,  thou  whose  heart  is  still!  Come  to  her  who  is 
mistress  of  thy  house  !  I  am  thy  sister,  born  of  the  same 
mother,  thou  shalt  not  be  far  from  me.  Gods  and  men 
turn  their  faces  toward  thee,  and  together  they  bewail 
thee.  ...  I  call  to  thee  and  weep,  so  that  it  is  heard 
even  to  heaven,  but  thou  dost  not  hear  my  voice,  and 
yet  I  am  thy  sister  whom  thou  lovedst  upon  earth  !  Thou 
lovedst  none  besides  me,  my  brother,  my  brother!"  57 

A  lament  sung  by  the  Theban  women  as  the  boat 
floated  across  the  Nile  bearing  the  mummy  to  its  last  rest- 
ing-place in  the  great  necropolis  called  "Place  of  Beauty" 
ran  as  follows : 

"Turn  to  the  West,  to  the  Land  of  the  Righteous! 
The  wives  in  the  boat  weep  bitterly,  bitterly. 
In  peace,  in  peace  to  the  West, 
O  praised  one,  come  in  peace ! 
When  the  day  shall  dawn  to  Eternity, 
Then  shall  we  see  thee  again."  5S 

As  in  other  Oriental  lands,  the  family  was  assisted  in 
these  laments  by  professional  mourning  men  and  mourn- 
ing women.59 

67  Erman,  Religion,  p.  33. 

M  Erman,  Life  in  Ancient  Egypt,  p.   320. 

"Breasted,  Records,  i.  370. 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  197 

m.  Sacrifice  to  the  Dead. — The  gifts  of  food  placed 
in  the  grave  could  not  be  expected  to  last  the  dead  man 
forever,  consequently,  his  descendants  were  expected  to 
bring  additional  offerings  regularly.  The  tomb-inscrip- 
tions frequently  pray  that  the  deceased  may  not  be  left 
without  the  necessities  of  life.  Thus  Nezemib  of  the 
period  of  the  Vth  dynasty  intreats:  "O  ye  living  who 
are  still  upon  earth,  who  pass  by  this  tomb;  let  water  be 
poured  out  for  me,  for  I  was  a  master  of  secret  things. 
Let  a  mortuary  offering  of  that  which  is  with  you  come 
forth  for  me,  for  I  was  one  beloved  of  the  people.  Never 
was  I  beaten  in  the  presence  of  any  official  since  my  birth; 
never  did  I  take  the  property  of  any  man  by  violence;  but 
I  was  a  doer  of  that  which  pleased  all  men."  60 

Pious  descendants  record  that  they  fulfilled  these  filial 
obligations.  Thus  the  son  of  a  royal  favourite  of  the 
IVth  dynasty  says:  "Her  eldest  son,  the  field-judge, 
built  (this  chapel)  for  her  to  make  mortuary  offerings  to 
her  therein."  61  Ahmose,  the  founder  of  the  XVIIIth 
dynasty,  is  represented  as  saying:  "It  is  I  who  have 
remembered  the  mother  of  my  mother,  and  the  mother 
of  my  father,  great  king's-wife  and  king's-mother, 
Tetisheri,  triumphant.  Although  she  has  already  a  tomb 
and  a  mortuary  chapel  on  the  soil  of  Thebes  and  Abydos, 
I  have  said  this  to  thee,  that  my  majesty  has  desired  to 
have  made  for  her  also  a  pyramid  and  a  house  in  Tazeser, 
as  a  monumental  donation  of  my  majesty.  Its  lake  shall 
be  dug,  its  trees  shall  be  planted,  its  offerings  shall  be 
founded,  equipped  with  people,  endowed  with  land, 
presented  with  herds,  mortuary  priests  and  ritual  priests 
having  their  duties,  every  man  knowing  his  stipula- 
tion. .  .  .  Never  did  former  kings  the  like  of  it  for 
their  mothers."  62 

As  a  rule,  however,  the  Egyptians  could  not  be  trusted 
to  show  the  filial  piety  that  was  displayed  by  the  Chinese 

,0  Breasted,  Records,  i.  279. 
"Ibid.,  i.   185. 
"Ibid.,   ii.    36-37. 


198  SPIRITISM  v 

in  keeping  up  the  regular  sacrifices  to  the  dead;  accord- 
ingly, the  wealthy  were  in  the  habit  of  leaving  endow- 
ments for  the  maintenance  of  their  mortuary  offerings 
as  well  as  for  the  upkeep  of  their  tombs.  This  practice 
began  in  the  Old  Kingdom,  and  lasted  down  to  the  latest 
times.63  One  of  the  most  interesting  cases  is  that  of 
Hepzefi,  Count  of  Siut,  under  Sesostris  I  of  the  Xllth 
tercalary  days";  according  to  the  second  contract,  "white 
the  priests  of  Siut  to  provide  offerings  to  his  departed 
spirit.  According  to  the  first  contract,  he  is  to  receive 
"a  white  loaf  per  individual  priest  for  his  statue  which 
is  in  the  temple  of  Anubis,  on  the  first  of  the  five  in- 
tercalary days"  according  to  the  second  contract,  "white 
bread  from  each  of  them  for  his  statue  which  is  in  charge 
of  the  mortuary  priest,  on  New  Year's  Day";  according 
to  the  third  contract,  "there  shall  be  given  to  him  bread 
and  beer  in  the  first  month  of  the  first  season,  on  the 
eighteenth  day,  the  day  of  the  Wag-feast,  namely,  twenty- 
two  jars  of  beer,  two  thousand  two  hundred  flat  loaves, 
and  fifty-five  white  loaves" ;  according  to  the  fourth  con- 
tract, "a  white  loaf  per  each  individual  among  them  for 
his  statue  which  is  in  the  temple,  in  the  first  month  of 
the  first  season,  on  the  eighteenth  day,  the  day  of  the 
Wag-feast";  according  to  the  fifth  contract,  "three  wicks 
with  which  the  fire  is  kindled  for  the  god";  according  to 
the  sixth  contract,  "the  roast  of  meat  which  is  due  upon 
the  altar,  which  is  placed  upon  the  oblation-table,  for 
every  bull  which  is  slaughtered  in  the  temple;  and  one  jar 
for  every  jar  of  beer,  every  day  of  a  procession,  which 
shall  be  due  every  future  superior  prophet";  according  to 
the  seventh  contract,  "three  wicks  due  to  him,  with  which 
the  fire  is  kindled  in  the  temple  of  Anubis,  on  New  Year's 
Eve,  New  Year's  Day,  and  the  night  of  the  Wag-feast." 
The  remaining  contracts  are  similar  in  contents.64 

Among  the  articles  of  food  offered  to  the  dead  the 

M  See  above,  p.   167 i. 

•*  Breasted,   Records,  i.    535   sq. 


v  SPIRITISM  IN  EGYPT  199 

inscriptions  mention:  grain,  bread  and  cakes  of  various 
materials  and  sizes,  fruit  of  all  sorts,  honey,  wild,  and 
domestic  cattle,  sheep,  goats,  and  game  of  wild  animals, 
geese  and  other  birds  and  fish.  As  libations  we  find 
water,  milk,  beer  and  wine.  Incense  also  was  offered  to 
the  dead,  as  to  the  gods.  The  reliefs  that  accompany  the 
inscriptions  often  depict  the  dead  enjoying  the  dainties 
that  are  set  before  them.  Thus  the  tomb  of  Nekonekh 
under  the  Vth  dynasty  represents  him  seated  at  a  table, 
while  eight  mortuary  priests  serve  him  with  viands.  Evi- 
dently the  ancient  Egyptians  had  no  intention  of  going 
hungry  in  the  other  world. 

The  foregoing  survey  makes  it  evident  that  in  all  es- 
sential particulars  the  beliefs  of  the  Egyptians  in  regard 
to  disembodied  spirits  were  identical  with  those  of  the 
Chinese  and  of  other  early  races. 


CHAPTER  VI 

SPIRITISM  AMONG  THE  EARLY  SEMITES 

In  the  Book  of  Genesis  the  Hebrews  first  appear  as  a 
nomadic  race  entering  Canaan  from  the  east.  From  the 
period  prior  to  this  migration  no  records  or  traditions 
have  come  down  to  us;  nevertheless  by  means  of  the  sci- 
ences of  comparative  philology  and  comparative  religion 
it  is  possible  to  gain  considerable  information  concerning 
the  theology  of  that  remote  age.  In  language,  customs 
and  beliefs  the  Hebrews  were  closely  akin  to  the  Canaan- 
ites,  Aramaeans,  Assyrians,  Babylonians,  Arabs,  Ethiop- 
ians and  other  races  that  are  grouped  by  ethnologists 
under  the  general  name  of  "Semitic."  *  Ideas  and  in- 
stitutions that  are  found  among  all  these  races  must  have 
been  possessed  by  their  forefathers  in  the  primitive  home 
in  the  Arabian  desert,  where  they  dwelt  together  before 
their  dispersion.  Applying  this  comparative  method  of 
research,  we  may  sketch  in  outline  the  main  features  of 
early  Semitic  belief  concerning  the  future  life. 

a.  The  Conception  of  Spirits. — The  primitive  Semitic 
conception  of  spirits  was  in  all  its  main  features  similar 
to  that  of  other  primitive  races  throughout  the  world. 
Man  was  believed  to  consist  of  two  elements,  'flesh,' 
(Heb.  basar)  and  'breath'  (Heb.  Phoen.  nefesh,  Arab, 
nafs,  Eth.  nafas,  Syr.  nafsha,  Bab.  Ass.  napishtu) .  The 
'breath'  was  the  seat  of  knowledge,  appetite,  emotion, 
and  activity;  accordingly  it  was  identical  with  the  person. 
In  all  the  Semitic  dialects  nafshi,  'my  breath,'  means 
'myself.'     The  'breath'  was  supposed  to  inhere  in  the 

1  From  Sem,  the  Greek  and  Latin  form  of  Shem,  the  assumed  ancestor  of  these 
peoples  in  Gen.  10:21-31. 


vi     SPIRITISM  AMONG  EARLY  SEMITES     201 

blood,  because  it  was  observed  that  when  the  blood  was 
shed  life  went  out  of  a  man.  The  ancient  Arabs  spoke 
of  the  nafs  as  flowing  out  of  a  man  who  was  dying  of 
wounds,  and  all  the  Semites  were  afraid  to  eat  the  blood 
of  slaughtered  animals  for  fear  that  they  might  be  pos- 
sessed by  the  spirits  of  these  animals.  The  heart,  as  the 
chief  receptacle  of  blood  in  the  body,  was  also  regarded 
as  the  abode  of  the  'breath'  and  as  the  centre  of  its 
intellectual  faculties.  At  death  the  'breath'  with  all  its 
powers  went  out  of  a  man. 

Another  word  for  'spirit'  found  in  several  of  the 
Semitic  languages  is  ruh  (Heb.  ruah,  Aram,  ruha) 
'wind.'  In  Arabic  this  word  has  only  the  meaning 
'wind,'  except  in  late  usage  borrowed  from  the  Syriac, 
and  it  is  not  found  in  Assyro-Babylonian;  accordingly, 
it  is  probably  not  such  a  primitive  word  for  'spirit'  as 
nefesh,  although  it  must  have  been  in  use  before  the 
separation  of  the  Hebraeo-Canaanite  and  the  Aramaean 
branches  from  the  parent  Semitic  stock.  It  is  practically 
a  synonym  of  nefesh,  but  it  emphasizes  more  the  energy 
of  the  soul. 

b.  Existence  of  Spirits  After  Death. — Among  the 
Semites  belief  in  the  continued  existence  of  the  disem- 
bodied nefesh  or  ruah  existed  from  the  earliest  times. 
The  ancient  tombs  at  Nippur  and  Tello  in  Babylonia 
contain  the  usual  offerings  to  the  dead.2  In  the  oldest 
tombs  of  Palestine 3  the  dead  were  commonly  depos- 
ited in  the  contracted  position  of  an  unborn  child,  in 
witness  to  the  faith  that  death  was  birth  into  another 
life;  and  with  them  were  placed  offerings  of  food  and  of 
other  useful  articles.  In  Babylonian  the  napishtu,  or 
'breath'  is  said  to  "go  out"  of  a  man,  but  the  disem- 
bodied spirit  is  not  called  napishtu,  as  in  the  other 
Semitic  dialects,  but  etimmu   (not  ekimmu  as  the  name 

1  Peters,  Nippur,   II.    173;   Maspero,   The  Dawn  of  Civilisation,   p.    686;  Jastrow, 
Religion  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria,   pp.    598f. 
8  Palestine    Exploration    Fund,     Quarterly    Statement,     1902,     pp.     351ff.;     1903, 
pp.    142. 


202  SPIRITISM  vi 

was  formerly  read),  or  its  Sumerian  equivalent  utukku.4 
In  Rabbinical  writings  the  Hebrew  equivalent  of  etimmu 
is  ruah. 

The  statement  of  the  Qur'an  (Sura  xxxix.  43)  "Allah 
takes  the  souls  to  himself  when  they  die,  and  those  who 
have  not  died  (He  takes)  in  their  sleep,"  shows  that  the 
ancient  Arabs  believed  that  the  soul  left  the  body  in 
sleep,  and  that  death  differed  from  sleep  only  in  the  fact 
that  the  soul  failed  to  return  to  its  former  residence. 
In  some  passages  of  the  Qur'an  Muhammad  speaks  as 
if  the  heathen  Arabs  believed  that  the  soul  perished  with 
the  body,  but  this  is  exaggeration  due  to  the  contrast 
between  the  lower  ideas  of  the  heathen  and  his  own 
higher  doctrine  of  immortality.  By  all  the  Arabs  the 
nafs  or  'breath'  was  supposed  to  live  on;  and  nafs,  or 
in  later  usage  ruh,  'wind,'  was  the  common  name  for 
'ghost.'  According  to  Wellhausen  5  the  Jinn,  or  'hidden 
beings'  of  the  Arabs,  who  were  for  the  most  part  nature- 
spirits,  also  included  spirits  of  the  dead.  Like  other 
primitive  peoples,  the  pre-Muhammadan  Arabs  buried 
the  dead  with  care,  provided  for  their  needs  in  the  other 
world,  invoked  their  assistance,  and  even  swore  by  their 
life.6 

c.  Powers  Retained  by  Spirits  of  the  Dead. — Spirits 
of  the  dead  were  believed  to  retain  in  large  measure  their 
former  intellectual  powers.  Those  who  had  led  unhappy 
lives  on  earth  or  who  had  come  to  untimely  ends  grieved 
over  their  misfortunes  in  the  other  world  and  returned 
to  take  their  revenge  upon  the  living. 

d.  Powers  Gained  by  Spirits  of  the  Dead. — The 
Semites  also  believed  in  the  acquisition  of  new  and  super- 
human powers  by  disembodied  spirits.  They  could  move 
at  will  from  place  to  place.  As  a  Babylonian  exorcism 
says: 

*  Thompson,   The  Devils  and  Evil  Spirits  of  Babylonia,   i.  p.  xxiv. 
5  if  este  arabischen   Heidentums?  pp.    148ff. 

•Wellhausen,  op.   cit.,  p.   185;  Noldeke,   in   Hastings,   Encyclopedia  of  Religion, 
art.   "Arabs,"    p.   672. 


vi     SPIRITISM  AMONG  EARLY  SEMITES    203 

"The  highest  walls,   the  thickest  walls,   like  a  flood   they  pass 
From  house  to  house  they  break  through. 
No  door  can  shut  them  out,  no  bolt  can  turn  them  back. 
Through  the  door  like  a  snake  they  glide, 
Through  the  hinge  like  the  wind  they  blow."  7 

They  could  take  possession  of  inanimate  objects  and 
use  these  as  they  would  their  own  bodies.  Among  the 
Arabs  a  heap  of  stones,  or  a  standing  stone  (nusb  =  Heb. 
massebd),  was  placed  upon  the  grave,  and  was  believed 
to  be  occupied  by  the  dead  just  as  really  as  similar  stones 
in  sanctuaries  were  occupied  by  the  gods.8  In  Nabatsean, 
Palmyrene,  and  Aramaic  nefesh,  'soul,'  means  also 
'tombstone.'  The  Babylonians  provided  statues  at  the 
entrances  to  temples  and  houses  as  residences  for  the 
ghosts.9  Among  the  Arabs  ghosts  and  Jinn  frequently 
appeared  in  the  forms  of  beasts  and  birds,  particularly 
of  serpents  and  owls.10  The  same  was  true  in  Baby- 
lonia.11 

Spirits  could  also  take  possession  of  living  men.  The 
Arabs  believed  that  while  the  soul  was  absent  in  sleep 
the  Jinn  could  easily  occupy  its  body.  They  caused  all 
manner  of  diseases  and  insanity.  The  name  for  'insane' 
was  majnun,  i.  e.,  'possessed  by  Jinn.'  They  were  also 
the  cause  of  remarkable  ability  and  prophetic  inspira- 
tion.12 The  spirit  that  revealed  himself  to  a  medium  was 
known  as  rdi}  the  same  word  as  the  Hebrew  ro'eh, 
'seer.'  The  Babylonians  believed  that  the  troubled 
ghost  of  the  unburied,  or  of  one  who  had  died  an  un- 
natural death,  might  enter  the  body  of  any  person  with 
whom  it  had  established  chance  relations  in  life,  and 
might  then  cause  disease  and  pain.13  It  could  be  driven 
out  only  by  powerful  incantations  in  the  name  of  the 

T  Thompson,  Devils  and  Evil  Spirits,   1.   S3. 
8  Wellhausen,  Reste,  pp.   180,    184. 

9Jastrow,   Die  Religion   Bab.,   p.    281;   see   also  the  representations   in   Thompson, 
Devils,  I,  frontispiece,  PI.   II;  and  Rogers,   The  Religion  of  Babylonia,  p.    147. 

10  Wellhausen,    Reste,    pp.    152,    157,    185. 

11  Thompson,  Devils,  i.  pp.  L,  51;  Jastrow,  Die  Rel.  Bab.,  p.  281. 
"Wellhausen,   Reste,2   pp.    155-168. 

13  Thompson,   Devils,   I,   xxxiv. 


2o4  SPIRITISM  vi 

great  gods,  and  by  threats  that  it  should  be  deprived  of 
food  and  drink. 

A  Babylonian  exorcism  mentions  the  following  classes 
of  troubled  ghosts: — 

"Whether  thou  art  a  ghost  that  hath  gone  forth  from  the  earth, 
Or  a  phantom  of  night  that  hath  no  couch, 
Or  a  woman    (that  hath  died)    a  virgin, 
Or  a  man   (that  hath  died)  unmarried, 
Or  one  that  lieth  dead  in  the  desert. 

Or  one  that  hath  been  torn  from  a  date-palm, 
Or  one  that  cometh  through  the  waters  in  a  boat, 

Or  a  harlot  (that  hath  died)  whose  body  is  sick, 
Or  a  woman  (that  hath  died)  in  travail, 
Or  a  woman  (that  hath  died)   with  a  babe  at  the  breast, 
Or  a  weeping  woman    (that  hath   died)    with    a   babe   at   the 
breast."  14 

Among  the  Arabs  the  soul  of  a  murdered  man  was 
believed  to  thirst  for  the  blood  of  his  slayer.  If  his 
clansmen  did  not  speedily  avenge  him,  he  appeared  in 
the  form  of  an  owl,  crying,  "Give  me  to  drink."  15 

Among  the  Babylonians  ghosts  frequently  appeared 
in  houses  and  omens  were  drawn  from  these  manifesta- 
tions.16 In  the  Gilgamesh  Epic  (tablet  xii)  the  ghost 
of  Enkidu  comes  to  Gilgamesh,  talks  with  him,  and 
answers  his  questions.  Among  the  Arabs  ghosts  were 
more  easily  perceived  by  animals  than  by  men  (a  wide- 
spread belief;  cf.  Balaam's  ass,  Num.  22:23),  but  they 
were  also  seen  by  men  under  favourable  conditions.  They 
spoke  in  whispers  or  in  mysterious  murmurs  in  the  desert. 
Their  voice  was  known  as  sadd,  'echo.'  When  they 
were  addressed  by  the  living,  they  replied  out  of  their 
graves.  When  a  woman  named  Laila  doubted  whether 
her  dead  lover  could  answer  her,  as  he  had  promised  he 

14  Thompson,   Devils  and  Evil  Spirits,  I.   39ff. 

15  Noldeke,  in  Hastings,  Encyclopedia  of  Religion,  art.  "Arabs,"  p.  672. 

16  Thompson,  Devils  and  Evil  Spirits,   I.   xxxv. 


vi    SPIRITISM  AMONG  EARLY  SEMITES    205 

would  do,  an  owl  flew  out  of  his  grave  and  struck  her 
in  the  face.17 

e.  Powers  Lost  by  Spirits  of  the  Dead. — The  ancient 
Semites  agreed  with  other  primitive  peoples  in  thinking 
that  with  the  loss  of  the  body  the  soul  lost  many  of  its 
powers.  Disembodied  spirits  were  conceived  as  feeble, 
intangible  beings,  bereft  of  the  sense-perceptions  that 
belong  to  the  physical  organism.  The  names  "breath," 
"wind,"  "shadow,"  "echo,"  that  were  applied  to  ghosts 
suggested  their  ethereal  nature.  In  Babylonian  incanta- 
tions they  are  described  as  "wind-gusts  that  come  forth 
from  the  grave."  "In  heaven  they  are  unknown,  on 
earth  they  are  not  understood;  they  neither  stand  or  sit, 
nor  eat  nor  drink."  "They  are  the  roaming  wind-blasts; 
no  wife  have  they,  no  son  do  they  beget.  Sense  they 
know  not.  They  are  as  horses  reared  among  the  hills."  18 
In  the  Gilgamesh  Epic  the  ghost  of  Enkidu  issues  "like 
a  wind  out  of  the  follow  in  the  earth."  19 

/.  The  Dwelling-Place  of  the  Dead. — The  ancient 
Semites  believed  that  the  disembodied  spirit  continued  to 
maintain  a  relation  with  its  dead  body,  so  that  the  corpse, 
or  the  grave,  continued  to  be  the  chief  seat  of  its  activity. 
In  Babylonia  the  etimmu,  or  'ghost,'  is  constantly 
spoken  of  as  coming  forth  from  the  grave.  Thus  in  an 
incantation  we  read: — 

"The  gods  which  seize  upon  man  have  gone  forth  from  the  grave, 
The  evil  wind-blasts  have  gone  forth  from  the  grave, 
To  demand  the  paying  of  rites  and  the  pouring  of  libations, 
They  have  gone  forth  from  the  grave. 
All  that  is  evil  in  their  hosts  like  a  whirlwind 
Hath  gone  forth  from  the  grave."  20 

In  Arabia  the  name  hama,  'skull,'  applied  to  the 
departed  indicates  that  they  were  associated  with  their 
mortal  remains.     Many  of  the  Jinn  live  in  graveyards 

"Wellhausen,   Reste,   pp.    150f.,    183. 

18  Thompson.  Devils  and  Evil  Spirits,   I.   xxix,   75. 

19  Gilgamesh   Epic,   tablet  xii,   col.   iii;  =  Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek,   VI,   263. 

20  Thompson,  Devils  and  Evil  Spirits,  II,   131. 


206  SPIRITISM  vi 

or  in  regions  where  all  the  inhabitants  have  died.     They 
love  decay  and  foul  smells.21 

Without  burial  the  spirits  of  the  dead  could  not  rest. 
In  the  Babylonian  Gilgamesh  Epic  (tablet  xii,  col.  6) 
the  ghost  of  Enkidu  says  to  Gilgamesh:  "He  whose 
corpse  has  been  thrown  out  into  the  desert — thou  hast 
seen,  I  have  seen  it — his  spirit  resteth  not  in  the  earth." 
Among  the  numerous  classes  of  evil  spirits  in  Babylonia 
none  were  more  dreaded  than  ghosts  of  the  unburied: — 

"He  that  lieth  in  a  ditch  ...  he  that  is  covered  by  no  grave  .  .  . 
He  that  lieth  uncovered,  whose  head  is  uncovered  with  dust, 
The  king's  son  that  lieth  in  the  desert,  or  in  the  ruins, 
The  hero  whom  they  have  slain  with  the  sword."  22 

By  both  Babylonians  and  Assyrians  burial  was  refused 
to  enemies,  and  their  bodies  were  cast  out  to  be  devoured 
by  beasts  and  birds.  The  graves  of  dead  enemies  also 
were  often  violated.  In  the  stele  of  Eannatum  (c.  2700 
B.C.)  the  corpses  of  enemies  are  depicted  as  being  de- 
voured by  vultures.  Of  the  Babylonians  who  supported 
his  brother  Shamashshumukin  in  a  revolt  Ashurbanipal 
says:  "I  slew  there  those  people.  Their  cut-up  flesh  I 
gave  as  food  to  dogs,  swine,  vultures,  eagles,  birds  of 
heaven  and  fish  of  the  sea."  23  After  his  conquest  of 
Elam  Ashurbanipal  records:  "The  tombs  of  their  kings, 
the  former  and  the  latter,  who  had  not  feared  Ashur 
and  Ishtar,  my  lords,  and  who  had  opposed  the  kings 
my  fathers,  I  destroyed  and  wasted  and  let  the  sun  behold 
them.  Their  bones  I  carried  to  Assyria.  I  allowed  their 
spirits  no  rest.  I  deprived  them  of  their  food  and  their 
libations  of  water."  24 

Among  the  Arabs  burial  was  a  necessity,  without 
which  the  soul  could  not  rest.  Cremation  was  regarded 
as  no  less  dreadful  than  the  burning  of  the  living  body. 

21  Wellhausen,  Reste,  pp.  150f.;  Doughty,  Arabia  Deserta  I,  259,  448. 

22  Haupt,  Akkadische  und  Sumerische  Keilschrifttexte,  p.   86. 

23  Annals  of  Ashurbanipal,   IV,   73ff.;   VII,   45. 

24  Ibid.,   VI,   70ff. ;   see  Jeremias,   Die   babylonisch-assyrischen    Vorstellungen   von 
Leben  nach  detn  Tode,  pp.  46ff. 


vi     SPIRITISM  AMONG  EARLY  SEMITES    207 

Only  the  corpses  of  enemies  were  cast  out  to  be  de- 
voured.25 Graves  of  friends  were  carefully  covered  with 
heavy  stones  so  that  they  might  not  be  entered  by  hyenas. 

In  marked  contrast  to  this  conception  of  the  connection 
of  the  disembodied  spirit  with  its  corpse  is  the  belief 
found  among  the  Babylonians  and  expressed  in  many 
parts  of  the  Old  Testament  that  the  dead  live  together 
in  a  subterranean  abode  known  as  SheoL  This  idea  is 
not  found  among  the  Arabs,  nor  among  several  other 
races  allied  to  the  Hebrews;  it  cannot  therefore  be  primi- 
tive Semitic.  Other  races  think  of  the  soul  either  as 
remaining  with  the  body,  or  as  going  to  a  realm  beneath 
the  earth,  on  a  mountain  top,  beyond  the  ocean,  or  in 
the  sky.  This  variety  shows  that  the  conception  of  a 
spirit-world  is  secondary,  and  that  the  primitive  belief 
was  that  the  soul  remained  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
body.  This  also  was  doubtless  the  original  Semitic  idea, 
and  the  doctrine  of  Sheol  is  a  later  development. 

g.  General  Conception  of  Death. — In  their  estimate 
of  the  worth  of  spirit-life  the  Semites  did  not  rise  above 
the  general  level  of  other  primitive  races.  In  pre- 
Muhammadan  Arab  poetry  the  thought  is  continually 
repeated  that  death  is  the  end  of  happiness,  therefore 
"Let  us  eat  and  drink  for  to-morrow  we  die."  No 
consolation  is  derived  from  the  belief  that  the  soul  con- 
tinues to  exist  and  possesses  superhuman  powers.  The 
only  comfort  offered  is  that  death  is  the  universal  lot  of 
men.  In  Babylonia  long  life  was  regarded  as  an  evidence 
of  the  favour  of  the  gods,  and  death  as  a  sign  that  they 
had  forsaken  a  man.  It  was  dreaded  as  a  fearful  and 
inevitable  disaster,  and  was  known  as  "the  day  of  dis- 
tress," or  "the  day  that  lets  no  one  go."  The  lot  of  the 
dead  was  most  unhappy.  "Dust  is  their  food,  mud  their 
victuals.  They  see  not  the  light,  they  dwell  in  darkness 
They  are  clothed  like  birds  with  a  covering  of  wings."  26 

21  Wellhausen,  Reste,  p.  177;  Noldeke,  Hastings,  Encyclopedia  of  Religion,  I,  672. 
*•  Descent  of  Ishtar,  line  8. 


208  SPIRITISM  vi 

When  Gilgamesh  appeals  to  the  ghost  of  Enkidu  to  tell 
him  what  the  other  world  is  like,  Enkidu  at  first  refuses 
for  fear  that  his  friend  cannot  bear  the  terrible  descrip- 
tion; and  when  at  last  he  consents,  he  bids  Gilgamesh 
prepare  to  weep  over  the  things  that  he  will  hear.27 

The  great  gods  whom  men  loved  and  adored  were 
gods  of  the  upper  world  and  of  the  living;  their  sway- 
did  not  extend  into  the  dark  abodes  of  the  dead.  They 
aided  men  against  the  ghosts  and  evil  demons  who  sought 
to  destroy  them.  When  death  came  it  was  a  sign  that 
their  favour  was  withdrawn,  or  that  they  were  unable 
to  help  against  the  powers  of  darkness.  The  disembodied 
spirit  passed  out  of  their  jurisdiction  into  that  of  divini- 
ties with  whom  in  life  it  had  established  no  friendly 
relations.  Such  a  conception  of  immortality  was  quite  as 
devoid  of  religious  or  ethical  value  as  were  the  spiritistic 
beliefs  of  other  primitive  races. 

h.  The  Cult  of  the  Dead. — The  rites  of  mourning 
among  the  Semites  were  similar  to  those  among  other 
primitive  peoples  and  bear  witness  to  a  similar  cult  of 
the  dead.  Among  the  ancient  Arabs  it  was  customary 
to  strip  one's  self  when  mourning.  Women  exposed  not 
only  their  faces  and  breasts,  but  sometimes  their  entire 
bodies.  Messengers  that  brought  tidings  of  death  ap- 
peared naked  or  half-naked.28  The  custom  had  a  re- 
ligious origin,  since  the  Arabs  used  to  make  the  circuit  of 
the  Ka'ba  naked,  and  even  today  perform  it  without 
shoes  and  in  a  simple  loincloth.  In  Babylonian  monu- 
ments of  the  earliest  period  the  worshippers  are  depicted 
naked;  in  later  times  they  wear  a  kilt.29  Cutting  one's 
flesh  as  a  means  of  establishing  a  blood-covenant  with 
the  dead  was  common  among  the  ancients.30  Women 
also  cut  off  their  hair,  and  men  sheared  the  head  and  the 
beard.     The  casting  of  dust  upon  the  head  or  the  body 

2T  Gilgamesh  Epic,  tablet  xii,  col.  4. 

M  Wellhausen,   Reste   arabischen    Heidentums*    pp.    177,    195. 

"  Jastrow,  Religion  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria,  p.  666. 

•°  Wellhausen,  Reste,  p.   181. 


vi     SPIRITISM  AMONG  EARLY  SEMITES    209 

was  another  mourning  custom.31  Analogous  was  the 
habit  of  drinking  water  mixed  with  dust  from  the 
grave.32  Fasting  on  the  day  of  death,  or  for  a  longer 
period,  was  also  a  common  practice. 

Burial  was  the  universal  Semitic  custom;  indeed,  the 
word  kabar,  'bury,'  is  common  to  all  the  Semitic  lan- 
guages. By  the  ancient  Arabs  graves  were  surrounded 
with  a  hima,  or  sacred  inclosure,  and  were  provided  with 
ansdb,  or  standing  stones,  like  the  sanctuaries  of  the  gods. 
They  were  also  asylums  where  criminals  found  refuge. 
At  them  all  the  rites  of  sacrifice  went  on  that  were  usual 
in  the  worship  of  the  gods.33 

Among  the  Arabs  the  cooking-pot  and  dishes  of  the 
deceased  were  broken,  and  his  camel  was  lamed  and 
tethered  near  the  grave  to  die  of  starvation.  About 
1 100  A.D.  certain  Arabs  of  Northern  Yemen  honoured 
a  dead  chief  by  breaking  a  thousand  swords  and  three 
hundred  bows  and  by  laming  seventy  horses.  Not  merely 
at  the  time  of  burial,  but  also  subsequently  camels  were 
slain.  An  early  poet  laments  that  he  cannot  sacrifice  his 
camel  to  his  friend  because  it  is  the  only  one  he  possesses. 
Besides  blood,  libations  of  water  and  of  milk  were  poured 
upon  graves,  and  the  wish  was  expressed  that  much  rain 
might  fall  upon  them.  In  some  parts  of  Arabia  fragrant 
wood  was  burned  as  incense.  These  customs  have  lasted 
down  to  the  present  day  both  among  the  Bedawin  and 
among  the  Arabs  of  Syria.34 

Prayer  to  the  dead  is  well  attested  among  the  ancient 
Semites.  Among  the  Arabs  the  women  broke  out  in  a 
shrill  wail  when  any  member  of  the  family  died,  and 
continued  this  until  the  period  of  mourning  was  over. 
This  was  accompanied  with  frequent  ejaculation  of  the 

31  Wellhausen,  Reste,"   p.    177. 

32  Ibid.,  p.  163;  Jastrow,  "Dust  and  Ashes  as  Symbols  of  Mourning,"  Jour.  Am. 
Orient.  Soc,  XX,   133f. 

33  Wellhausen,    Reste,2    p.    184. 

Si  Ibid.,  pp.  177-84;  Noldeke,  Hastings,  Encyclopaedia  of  Religion  and 
Ethics,  I,  672;  Burckhardt,  Beduinen  und  IVahaby,  pp.  84f.;  Doughty,  Arabia 
Descrta,  I,   240,   354,  442,   450   ff. ;   Curtiss,   Ursemitische  Religion,  chap.   xix. 


210  SPIRITISM  vi 

name  of  the  deceased,  and  with  the  entreaty,  "Be  not 
far  away!"  Poets  also  composed  extended  laments  ad- 
dressed to  the  dead.  The  belief  that  spirits  of  the  dead 
could  be  called  up  by  magic  arts  to  assist  the  living,  or 
to  reveal  the  future,  was  held  by  the  Semites  in  common 
with  other  ancient  peoples.  The  Arab  magician  had  his 
tabV ,  or  'follower,'  i.e.,  his  familiar  spirit.  In  Baby- 
lonia "raiser  of  the  departed  spirit"  was  the  standing 
title  of  the  necromancer.  In  the  Gilgamesh  Epic  (tablet 
xii,  col.  3)  we  have  an  account  of  how  Gilgamesh  raised 
the  ghost  of  Enkidu  and  held  converse  with  him. 


CHAPTER  VII 

SPIRITISM  IN  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA 

About  5000  B.C.  a  race  appeared  in  Babylonia  whose 
remains  survived  in  consequence  of  the  fact  that  it  built 
its  towns  on  artificial  mounds  raised  above  the  level  of 
the  river  floods.  This  race  is  called  Sumerian  because 
its  earliest  monuments  have  been  found  in  Sumer,  the 
ancient  name  for  Southern  Babylonia.  In  the  lowest 
levels  of  the  mounds  inscriptions  have  been  discovered 
in  an  extremely  primitive  character  that  approximates 
picture-writing.  In  these  characters  we  see  the  beginning 
of  the  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  cuneiform,  or  wedge- 
writing,  that  remained  in  use  almost  down  to  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Christian  era.  About  3500  B.C.  the  invasion 
of  Babylonia  by  the  Semites  began.  In  process  of  time 
the  Sumerians  were  conquered,  and  their  language  gave 
place  to  a  dialect  akin  to  Hebrew,  but  their  civilization 
left  an  indelible  impression  upon  the  conquering  Semites. 
Sumerian  remained  the  sacred  language  of  Babylonia, 
just  as  Latin  remained  the  sacred  language  of  the  Roman 
Church;  and  an  immense  body  of  Sumerian  literature  was 
transmitted  by  the  priests  down  almost  to  the  beginning 
of  our  era.  It  is  certain  that  none  of  this  material  was 
invented  by  the  Semites,  but  that  it  was  merely  inherited 
from  their  Sumerian  predecessors.  From  this  literature, 
contained  chiefly  in  tablets  discovered  in  the  library  of 
the  Assyrian  king  Ashurbanipal  (626  B.C.) ,  it  is  possible 
to  derive  a  full  and  accurate  conception  of  Sumerian 
beliefs  in  regard  to  the  future  life. 

a.     Activity  of  the  Dead. — Unlike  China,  where  an- 
cestors were  believed  to  bless  their  descendants  and  re- 

211 


212  SPIRITISM  vii 

ward  their  filial  piety,  in  Babylonia  and  Assyria  the 
activity  of  spirits  of  the  dead  was  entirely  maleficent. 
Nowhere  are  they  said  to  bless  and  help  men,  nowhere 
are  they  invoked  for  aid.  They  come  forth  from  the 
grave  to  kill  and  to  destroy.  The  best  that  can  be  hoped 
of  them  is  that  they  will  be  placated  by  the  offerings  made 
at  their  tombs,  will  remain  at  rest,  and  will  refrain  from 
harm.  Positive  good  is  never  expected  from  them.  Good 
things  come  from  the  gods,  who  are  the  protectors  of  men 
against  the  depredations  of  the  ghosts.  Prayers,  there- 
fore, are  addressed  only  to  the  gods,  ghosts  are  appeased 
or  are  exorcised.1 

The  Sumerians,  or  primitive  Babylonians,  believed  that 
all  disease  was  caused  by  the  obsession  of  malignant 
spirits  that  entered  into  the  bodies  of  men.  Three  classes 
of  evil  spirits  were  recognized,  first,  ghosts  of  those  who 
had  died  unnatural  deaths,  or  had  remained  unburied; 
second,  vampires  that  were  half-human  and  half-demon; 
third,  fiends  who  were  of  the  same  nature  as  the  gods. 
These  are  all  enumerated  at  the  beginning  of  a  hymn  to 
the  sun-god: 

"He  on  whom  an  evil  Spirit  hath  rushed, 
He  whom  an  evil  Demon  hath  enveloped  in  his  bed, 
He  whom  an  evil  Ghost  hath  cast  down  in  the  night, 
He  whom   a  great  Devil  hath  smitten, 
He  whose  limbs  an  evil  God  hath  racked  (  ?), 
He — the  hair  of  whose  body  an  evil  Fiend  hath  set  on  end, 
He  whom  ...  a  Hag-demon  hath  seized, 
He  whom  a  Ghoul  hath  cast  down, 
He  whom  a  Robber-sprite  hath  afflicted, 

He  whom  the  Handmaid  of  the  Night-Phantom  hath  wedded, 
The  man  with  whom  the  Handmaid  of  the  Night-Phantom 
hath  had  union."  2 

1  See  L.  W.  King,  Babylonian  Magic  and  Sorcery,   1896;   R.   C.  Thompson,   The 
Devils  and  Evil  Spirits  of  Babylonia,   1913;  S.   Langdon,  Babylonian  Magic,   1914; 

E.  Kiichler,    Beitrage    zur   Kentniss    der    Assyrisch-Babylonischen    Medizin,    1904; 

F.  von  Oefele,  numerous  articles  on  Keilschriftmedisin;  M.  Jastrow,  "The  Medi- 
cine of  the  Babylonians  and  Assyrians,"  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Society  of 
Medicine,  March,  1914. 

1  Thompson,   I.   p.   xxvii. 


vii  IN  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA        213 

Of  these  various  demons  an  incantation  says: 

"Through  the  gloomy  street  by  night  they  roam, 
Smiting  sheepfold   and  cattle-pen; 
Shutting  up  the  land  as  with  door  and  bolt. 
Rending  in  pieces  on  high,  bringing  destruction  below, 
They  are  the  Children  of  the  Underworld. 
Loudly  roaring  above,  gibbering  below, 
They  are  the  bitter  venom  of  the  gods. 
They  are  the  great  storms  directed  from  Heaven, 
They  are  the  owls  which  hoot  over  a  city. 
Knowing  no  care,  they  grind  the  land  like  corn, 
Knowing  no  mercy,  they  rage  against  mankind, 
They  spill  their  blood  like  rain, 
Devouring  their  flesh  and  sucking  their  veins. 

They  are  demons  full  of  violence, 
Ceaselessly  devouring  blood."  3 

Different  demons  were  the  causes  of  different  diseases. 
Ahhazu  caused  liver  troubles;  Ashakku,  tuberculosis; 
Ti'u,  headache;  Labartu,  the  death  of  women  or  children 
in  child-birth.  One  of  the  most  curious  tablets  that  has 
come  down  to  us  is  the  description  of  the  way  in  which 
a  devil  known  as  "the  toothache  worm"  obtained  from 
the  Creator  permission  to  live  in  the  teeth  of  men.  It 
reads  as  follows  : — 

"After  Anu  had  created  the  Heavens, 
The  Heavens  created  the  Earth, 
The  Earth   created   the  Rivers, 
The   Rivers  created   the  Canals, 
The  Canals  created  the  Marshes, 
The  Marshes  created  the  Worm. 
Came  the  Worm  (and)  wept  before  Shamash, 
Before  Ea  came  her  tears : — 
'What  wilt  thou  give  me  for  food, 
What  wilt  thou  give  me  for  my  devouring?' 
'I  will  give  thee  dried  bones, 
(And)   scented  .  .  .  -wood.' 
'What  are  these  dried  bones  to  me, 
And   scented  .  .  .  -wood ! 

8  Thompson,    I.    p.    xlvi. 


2i4  SPIRITISM  vn 

Let  me  drink  among  the  teeth, 

And  set  me  on  the  gums; 

That  I  may  devour  the  blood  of  the  teeth 

And  of  their  gums  destroy  the  strength; 

Then  shall  I  hold  the  bolt  of  the  door.'  "  4 

When,  as  here,  disease  is  caused  by  a  specific  being  that 
takes  up  its  abode  in  a  particular  tissue  of  the  human 
body,  we  do  not  seem  to  be  far  away  from  the  modern 
germ-theory  of  disease. 

The  ancient  Sumerians  believed  that  at  certain  times, 
or  in  certain  places,  one  was  peculiarly  in  danger  of  being 
entered  by  the  demons.  Contact  with  a  dead  body,  or 
wearing  the  clothes  of  the  dead,  or  intimate  association 
with  a  man  during  the  days  that  preceded  his  death, 
rendered  one  liable  to  obsession  by  his  ghost. 

"Whether  thou  art  a  ghost  that  hath  come  from  the  earth, 
Or  a  phantom  of  night  that  hath  no  couch, 
Or  whether  thou  be  one  with  whom  on  a  day  [I  have  eaten], 
Or  with  whom  on  a  day   [I  have  drunk], 
Or  with  whom  on  a  day  I  have  anointed  myself, 
Or  with  whom  on  a  day  I  have  clothed  myself, 
Or  whether  thou  be  one  with  whom  I  have  entered  and  drunk, 
Or  with  whom  I  have  entered  and  anointed  myself, 
Or  with  whom  I  have  entered  and  clothed  myself, 
Or  whether  thou  be  one  with  whom  I  have  eaten  food  when  I 

was  hungry, 
Or  with  whom  I  have  drunk  water  when  I  was  thirsty."  5 

Here  there  seems  to  be  knowledge  of  the  danger  of  con- 
tagious diseases.  It  was  also  observed  that  devils  dwelt 
most  frequently  in  places  that  had  been  abandoned  by 
men : 

"O  evil  Spirit,  get  thee  forth  to  distant  places, 
O  evil  Demon,  hie  thee  unto  the  ruins, 
Where  thou  standest  is  forbidden  ground, 
A  ruined,  desolate  house  is  thy  home."  6 

*  Thompson,  II.  p.   161. 
1  Ibid.,  I.   pp.   39,  43. 

•  Ibid.,  p.   139. 


vii  IN  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA  215 

Such  spots  were  doubtless  the  seats  of  malaria,  or  of 
other  germ  diseases,  and  this  was  the  reason  why  they 
had  been  forsaken  by  their  original  inhabitants. 

b.  The  Abode  of  the  Dead. — The  Sumerian  popu- 
lation of  Babylonia  had  already  reached  a  high  stage  of 
civilization  before  the  Semites  arrived  on  the  scene. 
Primitive  conceptions  of  the  dead  as  resting  with  their 
kinsmen  in  the  family  grave  the  Sumerians  had  outgrown. 
They  conceived  of  the  shades  as  dwelling  together  in  a 
mighty  realm,  and  as  socially  organized  after  the  manner 
of  an  ancient  Babylonian  kingdom.7 

For  this  realm  the  usual  Sumerian  name  is  Aralu,  of 
which  the  etymology  is  unknown.  Its  common  Hebrew 
name  is  Sheol,  of  which  also  the  meaning  is  uncertain. 
Jeremias  and  Jastrow  think  that  Sheol  appears  in  Baby- 
lonian as  Shu'dlu,  but  this  is  denied  by  Jensen  and 
Zimmern.  Another  Sumerian  name  is  "Land  of  the 
Dead,"  or  "Death."  Still  another  name  is  "Earth." 
Thus  in  the  epic  fragment  known  as  Ishtar  s  Descent  to 
Hades  (rev.  line  5)  we  read,  "Ishtar  has  gone  down  to 
the  Earth,  and  has  not  come  up."  8  In  the  Gilgamesh 
Epic  (XII,  iv,  1)  Gilgamesh  asks  Enkidu  after  "the  law 
of  the  Earth,"  meaning  as  the  sequel  shows,  the  nature  of 
the  other  world.9  Closely  similar  in  meaning  is  the 
Sumerian  word  Kigal,  'Great  Beneath,'  or  'Under- 
world,' which  passes  over  into  Semitic  as  Kigallu.  Since 
this  region  is  regarded  as  a  vast  cavern,  it  is  called  Nakbu, 
'the  Hollow,'  10  or  'the  Hole  of  the  Earth.'  ai 

From  these  names  it  is  evident  that  the  ancient 
Babylonians  regarded  Sheol  as  situated  in  the  depths  of 

7  On  the  Babylonion  conception  of  Hades  see  Jeremias,  Die  babylonisch- 
assyrischen  Vorstellungen  vom  Leben  nach  dem  Tode  (1887);  Jensen,  Die  Kos- 
mologie  dcr  Babylonier  (1890);  Jeremias,  "Holle  und  Paradies  bei  den  Baby- 
loniern,"  in  Das  Alte  Orient,  1900,  Part  3;  Zimmern,  in  Schrader's  Keilinschriften 
und   das  Alte    Testament'    (1903);    Warren,    The   Earliest   Cosmogonies    (1909). 

»  Keilinschriftliche   Bibliothek,   VI.    87. 

8  Ibid.,  263. 

10  S.  A.  Smith,  Miscellaneous  Texts,  16. 
"Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek,    VI.    262. 


216  SPIRITISM  vii 

the  earth.  One  is  said  to  "go  down"  to  Aralu,  or  to 
"come  up"  from  it.  The  gods  of  Aralu  are  also  the  gods 
who  cause  vegetation  to  spring  out  of  the  ground.  When 
the  Babylonian  kings  wish  to  describe  the  depth  to  which 
they  carried  the  substructures  of  their  mighty  edifices, 
they  say  that  they  laid  the  foundations  "on  the  breast 
of  Aralu"  or  "of  Kigallu."  The  tower-temples  of  an- 
cient Babylonia  were  regarded  as  counterparts  of  E-kur, 
'the  mountain  house'  or  inhabited  earth,  and  beneath 
these  the  dead  were  buried,  to  correspond  with  the  way 
in  which  the  shades  dwelt  beneath  the  abode  of  the 
living.12  In  the  inscriptions  the  tops  of  these  tower- 
temples  are  said  to  be  as  high  as  the  mountains,  and  their 
bases  as  low  as  the  Underworld.  From  these  expressions 
it  appears  that  the  Babylonians  regarded  Sheol  as  a  vast 
cavern  under  the  ground,  the  subterranean  counterpart 
of  the  space  included  between  the  earth  and  the  celestial 
dome  of  the  "firmament." 

Sheol  could  be  entered  directly  through  a  gap  in  the 
earth,  but  such  a  route  was  unusual.  Ordinarily  it  was 
entered  through  a  gate  in  the  western  horizon.  The 
myths  of  the  descent  of  Ishtar  (Venus)  and  other  astral 
deities  indicate  that  the  road  to  the  Underworld  was 
that  followed  by  the  celestial  bodies.  The  west  was  the 
region  of  darkness  and  death,  as  the  east  was  the  region 
of  light  and  life.  A  man  haunted  by  a  ghost  prays,  "Unto 
the  setting  of  the  sun  may  he  go."  13 

The  habitable  earth  was  regarded  as  an  island  lying 
in  the  midst  of  the  ocean;  consequently,  in  order  to  reach 
the  entrance  of  Sheol  at  the  setting  of  the  sun,  it  was 
necessary  to  cross  the  sea.  In  the  Gilgamesh  Epic, 
Gilgamesh,  who  has  set  out  to  seek  his  ancestor 
Ut(Pir  Sit?)-napishtim,  after  crossing  the  Syrian  desert 
and  passing  the  mountains  of  Lebanon,  reaches  the  shore 
of  the  Mediterranean,  and  inquires  of  a  goddess  how  he 

11  Hilprecht,   Explorations   in   Bible   Lands,   465. 

13  King,    Babylonian   Magic   and   Sorcery,   p.    119,   line    19. 


vii  IN  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA  217 

may  cross  the  sea.  She  replies :  "There  has  never  been 
any  ford,  Gilgamesh,  and  no  one  who  since  the  days  of 
yore  has  arrived  here  has  ever  crossed  over  the  sea.  The 
sun,  the  hero,  has  crossed  over  the  sea,  but  except  the 
sun,  who  has  crossed?  Hard  is  the  passage,  difficult  the 
way,  and  deep  are  the  Waters  of  Death  that  lie  before  it. 
Where,  Gilgamesh,  wilt  thou  go  over  the  sea?  When 
thou  comest  to  the  Waters  of  Death,  what  wilt  thou  do?" 
Presently,  however,  she  shows  Gilgamesh  where  he  may 
find  a  ferryman  who  will  carry  him  over  the  waters. 
Together  they  make  a  forty-five  days'  journey  to  the 
western  end  of  the  Mediterranean.  Then  they  enter 
upon  the  "Waters  of  Death,"  or  the  ocean  beyond  the 
straits  of  Gibraltar.  After  terrible  perils  they  succeed 
in  passing  this,  and  land  in  the  farthest  west  on  the  shore 
where  Ut-napishtim  dwells.14  This  ferry  over  the  Baby- 
lonian Styx  is  alluded  to  also  in  an  incantation,  where 
the  priest  says,  "I  have  stopped  the  ferry  and  barricaded 
the  dock,  and  have  thus  prevented  the  bewitching  of  the 
whole  world,"  i.e.,  I  have  prevented  the  spirits  of  the 
dead  from  coming  back  across  the  ocean  to  molest  men.15 
Because  of  this  necessity  of  crossing  the  "Waters  of 
Death"  the  Babylonian  Sheol  received  the  epithets  mat- 
nabalkattu,  'land  of  crossing  over,'  and  irs'itu  ruktu, 
'distant  land.'  In  order  to  reach  this  land  spirits  of  the 
dead  assumed  the  form  of  birds  and  flew  to  their  desti- 
nation. In  Ishtar's  Descent  (obv.  10)  we  read  of  the 
shades,  "They  are  clothed  like  a  bird  in  a  garment  of 
feathers."  16 

For  the  ancient  Babylonians  there  were  seven  heavens 
presided  over  by  the  sun,  moon,  and  the  five  planets. 
There  were  also  seven  stages  of  the  tower-temple  of  the 
earth.  In  like  manner  Aralu  was  conceived  as  containing 
seven  divisions  separated  by  walls.  These  walls  were 
pierced  by  seven  gates,  which  had  to  be  passed  in  suc- 

14  Kcilinschriftliche  Bibliothek,  VI.  217-23;  Jensen,  Gilgamesch  Epos,  28-33. 

15  Jeremias,  Holle  und  Parodies,   15. 

10  See  p.  95;  Weicker,  Dcr  Seelenzogel  in  der  alten  Litteratur  und  Kunst  (1907). 


218      ,  SPIRITISM  i      vn 

cession  by  the  goddess  Ishtar  before  she  reached  the 
lowest  depth  (Ishtar' s  Descent,  obv.  37-62).  These 
gates  were  fastened  with  bars,  and  there  was  a  porter 
who  opened  them  to  newcomers. 

Sheol  was  primarily  a  cosmological  conception,  and 
had  nothing  to  do  with  the  grave  as  the  abode  of  de- 
parted spirits,  but  the  Babylonians  were  unable  to  keep 
the  two  ideas  apart.  The  result  was  that  Sheol  was 
pictured  as  a  vast  tomb  in  which  all  individual  tombs 
were  included.  The  same  ideogram  was  used  both  for 
grave  and  for  Aralu.  In  the  incantations  the  ghosts  are 
said  interchangeably  to  come  forth  out  of  the  grave  and 
out  of  Aralu.  Everything  that  the  heart  delights  in  on 
earth  is  eaten  by  worms  in  the  Underworld.17  Hence  the 
conception  that  Sheol  is  dark  (in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
the  sun  goes  down  into  it).  Thus  in  Babylonian  one  of 
its  epithets  is  "dark  dwelling."  In  Ishtar' s  Descent  (obv. 
7)  it  is  called  "the  house  where  he  who  enters  is  deprived 
of  light,"  and  in  line  10  it  is  said,  "they  see  not  the 
light,  they  dwell  in  darkness."  18  For  the  same  reason 
Sheol  is  conceived  as  a  place  of  dust.  In  Ishtar' s  De- 
scent 19  it  is  said,  "Dust  is  their  food,  clay  their  nourish- 
ment.  .   .   .   Over  door  and  bar  dust  is  strewn."  20 

The  Babylonian  Sheol  is  under  the  rule  of  the  god 
Nergal  or  Irkalla  (a  personification  of  Irkallu,  'great 
city,'  one  of  the  names  of  Aralu),  and  his  wife  Eresh- 
kigal,  'mistress  of  the  Underworld.'  In  their  service 
stand  Namtaru,  the  death-demon,  and  a  host  of  evil 
spirits  who  roam  over  the  earth,  afflicting  men  with  all 
sorts  of  diseases  and  seeking  to  win  new  subjects  for 
their  masters.  To  the  attacks  of  these  demons  man 
sooner  or  later  succumbs.  "He  who  at  eventide  is  alive, 
at  daybreak  is  dead."     "The  day  of  death  is  unknown," 

"  Gilgamesh  Epic,  XII.  iv.  7i. 
"Cf.    Gilgamesh   Epic,   VII.    iv.    35. 

19  Obv.  9,  11. 

20  Cf.   Gilgamesh  Epic,  XII.  iv.    10. 


vii  IN  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA         219 

but  none  the  less  it  is  certain;  for  it  is  "the  day  that  lets 
no  one  go." 

Two  instances  are  known  in  Babylonian  literature  of 
persons  who  escaped  death,  and  were  translated  to  the 
abode  of  the  gods.  Ut(Sit?  Pir?)-napishtim,  the  Baby- 
lonian Noah,  after  narrating  the  story  of  the  Flood  to 
Gilgamesh,  concludes:  "Bel  went  up  into  the  ship, 
grasped  my  hands,  and  led  me  out,  led  out  my  wife  also, 
and  caused  her  to  kneel  down  at  my  side.  He  touched 
our  shoulders,  stood  between  us,  and  blessed  us,  saying, 
'Formerly  Ut-napishtim  was  a  man,  now  shall  Ut-napish- 
tim  and  his  wife  be  like  gods,  and  Ut-napishtim  shall 
dwell  afar  at  the  mouth  of  the  streams.'  "  21  Adapa  just 
missed  immortality  by  declining  the  bread  and  the  water 
of  life,22  which  shows  that  it  was  considered  possible 
for  men  to  escape  death.  Such  cases,  however,  were  the 
rare  exception. 

Babylonian  theology  knows  of  a  distinction  in  the  fates 
of  those  who  enter  Aralu.  One  "rests  in  his  chamber 
and  drinks  clean  water";  another  "eats  what  is  left  in 
the  pot,  the  remnants  of  food  that  are  cast  out  into  the 
street."  23  When  Ishtar  incurs  the  wrath  of  Ereshkigal, 
the  queen  of  the  Underworld,  Ereshkigal  bids  her  ser- 
vant Namtaru:  "Shut  her  in  my  palace,  loose  upon  her 
sixty  diseases."  24  The  Gilgamesh  Epic  25  seems  to  speak 
of  a  judgment  in  the  other  world:  "After  the  Watch- 
demon  and  the  Lock-demon  have  greeted  a  man,  the 
Anunnaki,  the  great  gods,  assemble  themselves;  Mam- 
metu,  who  fixes  fate,  determines  with  them  his  fate;  they 
establish  death  and  life." 

On  this  basis,  Jeremias  and  Delitzsch 26  found  the 
theory  that  the  Babylonians  distinguished  a  Paradise  and 
a  Hell  in  the  Underworld.    The  facts  do  not  justify  this 

11  Gilgamesh  Epic,  XI.  198-204. 

22  Adapa  Myth,  II.  rev.  24-34. 

23  Gilgamesh   Epic,   XII.    vi.    1-12. 

24  Ishtar" s  Descent,  obv.   68f. 
J6X.    vi.    35-38. 

20  Babel  und  Bibel,  38ff. 


220  SPIRITISM  vii 

view.  In  the  passage  which  speaks  of  the  different  fates 
of  the  dead,  the  context  shows  that  these  fates  depend, 
not  upon  moral  distinctions,  but  upon  the  manner  of 
burial.  The  one  who  "rests  in  his  chamber  and  drinks 
clean  water"  is  he  who  has  enjoyed  the  honourable  in- 
terment of  a  hero.  The  one  who  eats  refuse  is  he  "whose 
corpse  has  been  cast  out  upon  the  field,  whose  ghost  has 
no  one  to  care  for  him."  This  is  nothing  more  than  a 
survival  of  the  primitive  animistic  belief  that  the  repose 
of  the  spirit  depends  upon  the  proper  burial  of  the  body. 
The  "clean  water"  is  not  the  "water  of  life,"  but  the 
libation  poured  by  a  son  upon  the  grave.  The  judgment 
pronounced  by  Mammetu  and  the  Anunnaki  is  not  a 
judgment  upon  character,  that  determines  eternal  life  or 
eternal  death,  but  is  merely  a  decision  whether  or  no  a 
man  is  to  die.  Through  severe  illness  his  soul  is  brought 
down  to  the  very  gates  of  Aralu,  and  is  greeted  by  the 
watchman;  then  the  gods  decide  whether  he  is  to  remain 
in  the  Underworld  or  is  to  return  to  life.  This  explains 
the  following  line,  "But  the  days  of  death  are  not  re- 
vealed." So,  after  it  has  been  decreed  that  Ishtar  is 
not  to  remain  in  Hades,  the  Anunnaki  are  assembled  to 
pronounce  her  release,  and  to  sprinkle  her  with  the  water 
of  life  that  she  may  return  to  the  upper  world.27  The 
distinction  in  Aralu  is  merely  one  of  relative  comfort,  it 
is  not  a  distinction  of  place.  In  numerous  passages  the 
dead  of  all  ages  and  all  degrees  are  described  as  dwelling 
together  in  one  common  habitation.  Thus  in  an  epic 
fragment  belonging  to  the  Gilgamesh  cycle  the  ghost  of 
Enkidu  says: 

"In  the  house  that  I  have  entered,  my  friend,  .  .  .  crowns 
He  upon  the  ground.  There  dwell  the  wearers  of  crowns,  who  of 
old  ruled  the  land,  for  whom  Bel  and  Anu  have  appointed  name 
and  memory.  Cold  dishes  are  served  up  to  them,  and  they  drink 
water  out  of  skins.  In  the  house  that  I  have  entered,  my  friend, 
dwell   Enu-priests   and    Lagaru-priests.     There   dwell  enchanters 

27  Ishtar's  Descent,   rev.   37f. 


vii  IN  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA         221 

and  magicians.  There  dwell  the  anointed  priests  of  the  great  gods. 
There  dwell  the  heroes  Etana  and  Ner.  There  dwells  the  queen 
of  the  Underworld  Ereshkigal.  There  dwells  Belit-seri,  the  scribe- 
goddess  of  the  lower  world  crouching  before  her."  28 

By  the  Babylonians  Sheol  was  conceived  as  a  land,  a 
city,  or  a  house,  in  which  all  classes  of  men  dwelt  together 
as  on  earth.  Life  went  on  much  the  same  as  in  the  upper 
world,  only  all  was  shadowy.  This  conception  was  simply 
a  survival  of  primitive  beliefs  concerning  the  existence  of 
the  dead  that  were  combined  with  the  later  doctrine  of 
Sheol.29 

When  once  a  man  had  entered  Sheol  the  Babylonians 
believed  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  return  to  life 
again.  The  Underworld  was  "the  land  of  no  return,"  30 
or  "the  enduring  dwelling."  31  Its  watchman,  the  "Lur- 
ker  of  Nergal,"  does  not  release  when  once  he  has  seized 
a  man.32  Speaking  of  his  friend  Enkidu,  Gilgamesh  says: 
"My  friend  whom  I  loved  has  become  like  clay  .  .  . 
Shall  I  not  also  like  him  lay  me  down  to  rest,  and  not 
arise  for  evermore?"  33  This  denial  that  the  dead  can 
return  means  only  that  they  cannot  return  to  life,  not  that 
they  may  not  leave  Sheol  to  haunt  the  living,  or  to  re- 
spond to  the  summons  of  a  medium.  The  ancient  belief 
in  ghosts  and  in  necromancy  continued  alongside  of  the 
belief  in  Sheol.3* 

Whether  the  Babylonians  believed  in  the  possibility  of 
a  resurrection  is  a  disputed  question.  A  number  of  gods, 
particularly  Marduk,  bear  the  title  muhallit  mituti, 
'quickener  of  the  dead.'  In  a  hymn  it  is  said,  "He  whose 
corpse  has  gone  down  to  Aralu  thou  bringest  back."  35 
On  the  strength  of  these  passages  it  has  been  claimed 

28  Jeremias,   Hblle   und  Paradies,    16. 
28  See   pp.    6,   104,    169. 

30  Ishtar's   Descent,    obv.    1,    6,   41. 

31  Ibid.,    rev.    31. 

32  Gilgamesh  Epic,  XII.   iii.    18. 

33  Ibid.,   VIII.    v.   36f. 
"See   pp.   212ff.,   226-231. 

25  King,  Babylonian  Magic  and  Sorcery,  No.  2,  22. 


222  SPIRITISM  vii 

that  the  Babylonians  believed  in  a  resurrection,36  but  the 
evidence  is  insufficient.  All  that  this  language  means  is 
that  the  god  in  question  raises  up  to  life  a  man  who  is 
sick  unto  death.  According  to  the  primitive  conception, 
the  soul  left  the  body  in  illness,  or  in  unconsciousness,  and 
drew  near  to  the  Underworld.  For  a  time  it  was  doubt- 
ful whether  it  would  remain  with  the  shades  or  return 
to  earth.  The  god  who  prevented  its  final  separation 
from  its  body  was  called  "quickener  of  the  dead,"  but 
that  there  could  be  any  resurrection  after  the  body  had 
been  buried  and  dissolution  had  set  in  there  is  no  evi- 
dence; in  fact,  this  idea  seems  to  be  directly  contrary  to 
the  statements  just  quoted  that  there  is  no  return  for  one 
upon  whom  Mammetu  and  the  Anunnaki  have  pronounced 
sentence  of  death,  but  only  for  one  whose  entrance  to 
Aralu  they  postpone.  The  "water  of  life"  that  is  guarded 
by  the  Anunnaki  in  Aralu  does  not  serve  to  bring  back  the 
dead,  but  only  to  restore  those  who  have  gone  down  alive 
to  Sheol.  It  is  given  to  Asushunamir,  the  messenger  of 
the  gods,  that  he  may  return  to  heaven;  and  is  sprinkled 
on  Ishtar  that  she  may  go  back  to  the  upper  world.37 
Gilgamesh  is  washed  with  it  that  he  may  be  cleansed  from 
his  leprosy,38  and  Adapa  has  it  offered  to  him  that  he  may 
attain  immortality.39  In  these  cases  the  dead  are  not  re- 
stored to  life,  but  the  living  are  prevented  from  dying. 
The  "water  of  life"  is  the  divine  counterpart  of  the  holy 
water  with  which  the  priest  sprinkled  the  sick  man  to  keep 
the  death-demons  from  dragging  him  down  to  Aralu.  In 
only  one  passage  is  the  possibility  of  a  real  resurrection 
suggested.  When  Ishtar  is  refused  admission  to  Aralu, 
she  says  to  the  porter :  "If  thou  openest  not  thy  gate  and 
I  come  not  in,  I  will  break  down  the  door,  I  will  shatter 
the  bolt,  I  will  break  through  the  threshold  and  remove 
the  doors,  I  will  bring  up  the  dead,  eating,  living;  the 

38  Jensen,   Keilinschriftliche   Bibliothek,  VI.   480. 

37  Ishtar' 's    Descent,    rev.    19,    34,    38. 

38  Gilgamesh   Epic,   XI.    254ff. 
s*  Adapa  Myth,  II.  rev.  26. 


vii  IN  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA         223 

dead  shall  be  more  numerous  than  the  living."  40  This 
seems  to  refer  to  a  restoration  of  the  dead  to  life.  From 
this  it  follows  that  the  Babylonians  regarded  it  as  possi- 
ble for  the  great  gods  to  empty  Aralu,  if  they  saw  fit;  but 
there  is  no  evidence  that  they  believed  that  this  power 
would  ever  be  exerted. 

c.  Deification  of  the  Dead. — Names  for  spirits  of 
the  dead  in  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  texts  are  regularly 
preceded  with  the  determinative  for  'god,'  Sumerian 
dingir,  Semitic  ilu,  the  same  etymologically  as  the  Hebrew 
word  el,  'god.'  This  shows  that  they  were  regarded  as 
belonging  to  the  class  of  superhuman  beings,  or  "powers," 
just  as  in  1  Samuel  28:13  the  ghost  of  Samuel  rising  out 
of  the  earth  is  called  "a  god."  In  the  incantations  they 
are  often  called  "evil  gods."  An  Assyrian  king  calls 
them  "princes,  spirits  of  the  earth,  gods  who  inhabit 
the  grave." 

The  deification  of  dead  kings  in  ancient  Babylonia  is 
peculiarly  well  attested.  Some  of  these  kings  were 
already  deified  during  their  lives,  and  their  worship 
naturally  continued  after  their  deaths.  The  first  king 
of  whom  this  is  known  with  certainty  is  Naram-Sin  of 
the  dynasty  of  Agade  (c.  2750  B.C.)  who  had  the  de- 
terminative for  "god"  prefixed  to  his  name  during  his 
lifetime.  The  same  was  true  of  his  successor  Sargani- 
sharri  (c.  2720  B.C.).  The  kings  of  the  dynasty  of  Ur, 
namely  Ur-Engur  (2469  B.C.),  Dungi  (2451  B.C.), 
Pur-Sin  (2393  B.C.),  Gimil-Sin  (2384  B.C.),  and  Ibi-Sin 
(2377  B.C.),  were  all  canonized  while  alive,  except 
Ur-Engur,  the  founder  of  the  dynasty.  The  worship  of 
these  kings  persisted  under  their  successors,  just  like  the 
worship  of  royal  ancestors  in  China  and  in  Egypt.  In 
succeeding  generations  their  names  were  used  like  names 
of  gods  to  form  proper  names.  Thus  we  find  such  names 
as  Dungi-ilu,    'Dungi    is    god,'    and   Dungi-bani,    'Dungi 

*°Ishtar's  Descent,  obv.   16-20. 


224  SPIRITISM  vn 

is  my  creator.'  A  large  number  of  such  names  has  been 
collected  by  Huber.41  Dungi  records  that  he  built  a 
temple  for  his  father  Ur-Engur,  and  a  temple  of  Dungi 
is  often  mentioned.  An  officer  of  King  Gimil-Sin  records : 
"For  Gimil-Sin,  beloved  of  Enlil,  the  king,  whom  Enlil 
has  chosen  as  his  beloved,  the  mighty  king,  king  of  Ur, 
king  of  the  four  quarters  of  the  world,  his  god;  Lugal- 
ma-gur-ri,  captain  of  the  fortress,  patesi  of  Ur,  his 
servant,  built  his  beloved  temple."  42 

d.  Burial  of  the  Dead. — The  excavations  that  have 
been  carried  on  in  the  mounds  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria 
show  that  the  inhabitants  of  these  lands  exercised  the 
greatest  care  in  the  disposal  of  the  corpses  of  the  dead. 
The  poor  were  buried  in  ordinary  great  water-jars,  lined 
with  bitumen,  about  a  metre  in  height.  The  well-to-do 
were  buried  in  clay  coffins  shaped  like  a  baby's  bath-tub, 
also  about  a  metre  in  length.  In  order  to  insert  them 
into  these  small  receptacles  the  bodies  were  doubled 
together  or  were  divided  through  the  middle.  The  coffins 
were  frequently  covered  with  wood  and  were  enclosed  in 
a  tomb  of  unburned  brick.  The  bodies  were  dressed  in 
their  best  garments,  and  were  provided  with  weapons, 
armour  of  bronze  and  iron,  jewelry,  bronze  mirrors,  and 
other  toilet  articles.  With  them  were  placed  vessels 
containing  food,  drink,  and  ointments.  Many  of  these 
vessels  were  the  choicest  specimens  of  the  potter's  art. 
Seals,  cones,  cylinders,  and  other  written  records  were 
also  added  occasionally.  All  these  customs  indicate  that 
the  dead  had  need  in  the  other  life  of  these  objects  with 
which  they  were  supplied  by  the  piety  of  the  survivors.43 
Herodotus,  i.  198,  narrates  of  the  Babylonians:     "They 

u  Die  Personennamen  in  den  Keilschrifturkunden,    1907. 

42  E.  Thureau-Dangin,  Sumerische  und  Akkadische  Kbnigsinschriften,  pp.  200, 
231,  notes.  For  further  information  on  this  subject  see  S.  A.  Mercer,  "Emperor- 
Worship  in  Babylonia,"  Jour  Atner.  Oriental  Society,  1917,  p.  360;  S.  Langdon, 
"The  Cult  of  Deified  Kings  in  Ancient  Sumer,"  Museum  Journal,  Univ.  of  Penn., 
1917,  p.    165;  and  Proceed.   Soc.  Bibl.   Archcrology,   1918. 

«  See   J.    P.    Peters,   Nippur,    ii.    214-234. 


vii  IN  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA  225 

bury  their  dead  in  honey,  and  have  funeral  lamentations 
like  the  Egyptians."  44 

e.  Offerings  to  the  Dead. — Among  the  Babylonians 
sacrifices  and  libations  were  offered  periodically  at  tombs. 
The  regular  pouring  out  of  libations  of  water  was  a  duty 
that  devolved  upon  the  oldest  son,  or  the  legal  heir,  and 
that  might  not  be  neglected  without  incurring  the  wrath 
of  the  deceased.45  In  order  to  secure  regular  offerings 
to  his  spirit  a  Babylonian  who  had  no  son  adopted  one. 
Women  also  adopted  daughters  under  similar  circum- 
stances. Thus  in  a  tablet  of  the  Cassite  period 46  we 
read:  "Ina-Uruk-rishat  .  .  .  had  no  daughter,  there- 
fore she  adopted  Etirtu.  ...  So  long  as  Ina-Uruk- 
rishat  lives  Etirtu  is  to  show  her  honour.  If  Ina-Uruk- 
rishat  dies,  then  shall  Etirtu,  as  though  she  were  her 
daughter,  make  libations  of  water  for  her."  An  ancient 
bronze  tablet  represents  a  dead  man  lying  on  a  bier,  with 
priests  surrounding  him,  and  an  altar  for  burning  incense 
near  his  head.47 

Sacrifices  to  dead  kings  of  the  dynasty  of  Ur  are  often 
mentioned  in  the  temple  accounting-tablets  and  receipts, 
which  have  been  found  in  such  vast  numbers  at  Drehem 
and  Jokah  in  southern  Babylonia.  One  of  these  tablets, 
for  instance,  reads:  "One  dead  sheep  for  god  Dungi, 
one  for  god  Pur-Sin,  one  for  god  Gimil-Sin,  one  for  god 
Gimil-Sin  a  second  time :  offerings  at  the  festival.  Con- 
veyed on  behalf  of  the  house  of  the  cattle.  Month 
pap-u-e,  year  when  god  Ibi-Sin  became  king."  48  A  king 
of  Assyria,  whose  name  is  missing,  records  how  he  cele- 
brated the  obsequies  of  his  father,  and  closes  with  the 
words:     "Gifts  unto  the  princes,  unto  the  spirits  of  the 

"  See  G.   Rawlinson,  Herodotus,  i.  p.  263  sq.,  with  notes  on  the  burial  customs 
of  the   Babylonians. 

45  Jastrow,  Religion  of  Babylonia,  p.   559. 

**  Clay,  Documents  Dated   in  the  Reigns  of  Cassite  Rulers,   No.   40. 

*'  King.  Babylonian  Religion,  p.   39. 

48  See  S.   Langdon,  Proc.  Soc.  Bibl.  Archeology,   1918,   pp.    50-52. 


226  SPIRITISM  vn 

earth,  and  unto  the  gods  who  inhabit  the  grave,  I  then 
presented."  49  King  Ashurbanipal  also  records  that  he 
invoked  the  shades  of  his  ancestors,  and  poured  out  liba- 
tions in  their  honour:  "The  prescriptions  for  the  sacri- 
fices and  the  libations  of  water  for  the  shades  of  the 
kings,  my  predecessors,  which  had  ceased  to  be  observed, 
I  introduced  afresh.  To  gods  and  men,  to  the  dead  and 
the  living  I  did  good."  50 

/.  Exorcism  of  the  Dead. — Besides  the  offerings 
which  were  designed  to  placate  the  dead  and  keep  them 
from  harming  the  living,  there  were  other  rites  which 
were  intended  to  drive  away  the  ghosts  when  they  became 
troublesome. 

i.  Invocation  of  the  Gods. — As  the  chief  helpers 
against  the  shades  the  gods  were  invoked  to  come  to  the 
aid  of  the  sufferer.  Since  it  was  not  known  which  of  the 
gods  would  be  the  greatest  help,  it  was  customary  to 
invoke  all  of  them,  not  only  the  chief  divinities  of  the 
Babylonian  pantheon,  but  also  many  other  minor  deities 
who  are  known  to  us  only  from  the  magical  texts. 

2.  The  Divine  Prescription. — In  many  of  the  texts, 
after  the  invocation  of  the  gods,  we  read  how  the  god 
Marduk  is  taught  the  proper  remedy  by  his  father  Ea, 
the  god  of  wisdom: 

"Marduk  hath  seen  him  (the  sick  man)  and 
Unto  the  house  of  his  father  Ea  hath  entered  and  spoken: 
'Father.' 

Twice  he  hath  said  unto  him, 
'What  this  man  shall  do  he  knoweth  not, 
Whereby  he  may  be  assuaged.' 
Ea  hath   answered   his  son   Marduk: 
'O  my  son,  what  dost  thou  not  know, 
What  more   can   I   give  thee? 
O  Marduk,  what  dost  thou  not  know, 
How  can  I  add  unto  thy  knowledge? 
What  I  know  thou  knowest  also. 
Go,  my  son  Marduk.'  "  51 

♦•King,  op  cit.,  p.  49. 

•°  M.  Streck,  Assurbanipal,  v..  p.  250. 

n  Thompson,    II.    p.   xxii. 


vii  IN  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA  227 

Then  Ea  gives  his  son  Marduk  specific  directions  what 
to  do  for  the  recovery  of  the  sick  man.  Thus  the  cere- 
monies of  the  priest  come  with  divine  authority  and  have 
sacramental  efficacy.  The  priest  who  knows  what  Ea, 
the  father,  has  revealed  through  Marduk,  his  son,  comes 
to  the  patient  as  the  representative  of  the  gods.    He  says : 

"The  man  of  Ea  am  I ! 
The  man  of  Damkina  am   I ! 
To  revive    (N.N.)   the  sick  man, 
The  great  lord  Ea  hath  sent  me; 
He  hath  added  his  pure  spell  to  mine, 
He  hath  added  his  pure  voice  to  mine, 
He  hath  added  his  pure  spittle  to  mine, 
He  hath  added  his  pure  prayer  to  mine."  62 

3.  Magic  Rites. — The  directions  which  Ea  gives 
Marduk  for  the  cure  are  almost  exclusively  magic  cere- 
monies. A  common  form  is  the  provision  of  an  animal 
into  which  the  evil  spirit  may  enter  when  it  leaves  the 
man.     Thus  in  one  text  we  read: 

"Give  the  pig  in   his  stead, 
And  give  the  flesh  as  his  flesh, 
The  blood  as  his  blood, 
And  let  him  take  it; 

Its  heart    (which   thou   hast  set   on   his   heart) 
Give  as  his  heart, 
And  let  him  take  it."  58 

This  reminds  us  of  the  story  in  Matt.  8:28-34  of  how 
the  demons  went  out  of  the  man  and  entered  into  a  herd 
of  swine  which  they  caused  to  rush  violently  down  a 
precipice  to  destruction.  Birds  also  were  used,  the  idea 
being  that  the  demons  would  enter  into  them  and  fly  away 
with  them  when  they  were  released.  Thus  one  incanta- 
tion reads: 

"A  raven,  the  bird  that  helpeth  the  gods, 
In  my  right  hand   I   hold; 
A  hawk,  to  flutter  in  thine  evil  face, 

■  Devils  and  Evil  Spirits,  Vol.  I,  Tablet  III,  1,  65ff;  II.  p.  xxv. 
•*  Thompson,  II.  p.  xxxiii. 


228  SPIRITISM  vii 

In  my  left  hand  I  thrust  forward; 

With  the  sombre  garb  of  awe  I  clothe  thee, 

In  sombre  dress  I  robe  thee."  54 

With  this  we  may  compare  the  ritual  of  the  release  of 
the  bird  in  Lev.  14:4-7. 

Demons  could  be  transferred  not  only  to  living  crea- 
tures but  also  to  inanimate  objects.  With  the  proper 
ceremonies  they  could  be  induced  to  take  up  their  abode  in 
vessels  of  water,  which  then  were  broken,  scattering  their 
contents,  and  driving  away  their  occupants.  In  one 
magical  text  we  read: 

"The  evil  Spirit  (and)  Ghost  that  appear  in  the  desert, 
O  Pestilence  that  hast  touched  the  man  for  harm, 
The  Tongue  that  is  banefully  fastened  on  the  man, 
May  they  be  broken  in  pieces  like  a  goblet, 
May  they  be  poured  forth  like  water."  55 

Demons  could  also  be  induced  to  enter  images  of  wax  or 
of  clay  which  were  then  destroyed.    Thus  we  read : 

"Go,  my  son  (Marduk), 
Pull  off  a  piece  of  clay  from  the  deep, 
Fashion  a  figure  of  his  bodily  form  (therefrom)  and 
Place  it  on  the  loins  of  the  sick  man  by  night, 
At  dawn  make  the  'atonement'  for  his  body, 
Perform  the  Incantation  of  Eridu, 
Turn  his  face  to  the  west, 

That  the  Plague-demon  which  hath  seized  upon  him 
May    vanish    away    from    him." 56 

Another  favourite  magical  act  was  the  tying  and  loos- 
ing of  cords.  The  tying  represented  the  binding  of  the 
man  by  the  demon,  the  loosing,  the  release  from  its 
clutches.  Compare  Luke  13:16,  "Ought  not  this  woman 
.  .  .  whom  Satan  had  bound,  lo,  these  eighteen  years,  to 
have  been  loosed  from  this  bond?"  One  direction  of  this 
sort  reads : 

M  Thompson,  I.  p.  135. 
MIbid.,  I.   p.    151. 
"Ibid.,  II.  p.  101. 


vii  IN  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA         229 

"Weave  thou  a  two-coloured  cord  from  the  hair  of  a  virgin  kid 
and  from  the  wool  of  a  virgin  lamb, 
Upon  the  limbs  of  the  king,  son  of  his  god,  bind  it."  5T 

4.  Drugs. — Drugs  served  originally  a  magical  pur- 
pose, just  as  charms  and  spells.  In  the  medical  texts  they 
are  introduced  with  the  same  formula  as  the  magical 
rites,  and  they  are  mingled  writh  them.  The  theory  that 
led  to  their  use  was  either  allopathic  or  homoeopathic. 
Some  drugs  were  so  bitter  or  nauseous  that  they  would 
drive  out  any  self-respecting  devil.  This  was  allopathic 
treatment.  Other  drugs  resembled  the  demons  or  the 
organs  of  the  body,  and  therefore  rendered  them 
propitious  and  mitigated  their  attacks.  This  was 
homoeopathy. 

The  allopathic  remedies  included  all  the  nasty  sub- 
stances that  the  ancient  Sumerians  could  discover.  Among 
these  are  enumerated  "a  green  frog,  pestilence  root  with 
a  claw  of  a  black  dog,  a  thorn  plant  with  earth  taken 
from  the  'outer  gate,'  a  green  vegetable  of  some  kind 
with  the  dust  of  a  man's  foot,  swine's  fat,  swine's  tail, 
dog's  dung,  the  neck  of  a  dog,  the  foot  of  a  small  insect, 
the  fat  of  a  serpent,  excrement  of  man,  and  urine,  the 
hair  of  a  virgin  goat,  human  bone."  58 

The  homoeopathic  remedies  included  plants  or  roots 
whose  fantastic  forms  suggested  a  resemblance  to  the 
demons  of  disease,  or  plants  whose  leaves,  or  roots,  or 
fruits,  resembled  organs  of  the  human  body.  The 
ginseng  root  has  no  medicinal  value,  still  it  is  dug  ex- 
tensively in  New  England  and  exported  to  China,  where 
it  is  highly  prized  as  a  remedy,  because  its  grotesque 
forms  are  supposed  to  resemble  various  devils,  and  there- 
fore to  be  a  powerful  aid  in  expelling  them.  We  still  find 
traces  of  this  theory  of  medicine  in  some  modern  popular 
botanical  names  such  as  liver-wort,  spleen-wort,  blood- 
root,  etc. 

57  Thompson,    I.    p.    101. 
M  Jastrow,  o.c,  p.  158. 


230  SPIRITISM  vn 

5.  Adjuration. — When  the  gods  had  been  placated, 
and  the  magic  rites  had  been  performed,  and  the  magic 
drugs  had  been  administered,  the  time  had  come  for  the 
solemn  adjuration  of  the  demon  to  leave  the  body  of  the 
sick  man.  Like  all  primitive  peoples,  the  Sumerians  be- 
lieved in  the  magical  power  of  the  right  form  of  words. 
The  priest  knew  the  proper  ritual  in  the  case  of  every 
disease;  and  when  these  words  were  uttered  in  connec- 
tion with  the  prescribed  ceremonies,  the  demon  could  not 
withstand  their  power,  but  must  leave  the  body  of  the 
sufferer.  In  order  to  get  control  of  the  demon  it  was 
important  that  his  name  should  be  mentioned  in  the  ex- 
orcism. As  this  was  not  always  known,  it  was  usual  to 
enumerate  every  variety  of  devil  so  that  no  one  might 
slip  through  by  inadvertence.  These  exorcisms,  accord- 
ingly, are  valuable  sources  of  information  in  regard  to 
Babylonian  demonology,  they  are  a  sort  of  "Who's  Who 
in  Hell."  After  the  demons  are  enumerated,  the  usual 
formula  of  exorcism  in  Sumerian  is  "ZI  AN-NA  KAN- 
PA  ZI  KI-A  KAN-PA,"  or  in  Semitic  translation  "Ina 
shame  sibit  ina  irsitim  sibitma,"  that  is,  "By  Heaven  be 
thou  exorcised,  by  Earth  be  thou  exorcised."  Other 
gods  are  invoked  and  other  forms  of  exorcism  are  used. 
Then  it  is  expected  that  sooner  or  later  the  demon  will 
yield  to  the  spell  and  leave  the  man. 

In  the  adjuration  to  the  demon  a  curious  argument  is 
often  introduced.  He  is  told  that  he  shall  have  no  food 
or  water  until  he  comes  out.  This  is  an  allusion  to  the 
belief  that  the  ghosts  could  not  rest  unless  they  received 
their  customary  food-offerings  and  libations.  They  have 
entered  into  the  sick  man  because  of  lack  of  these  offer- 
ings, and  they  are  told  that  they  shall  not  receive  them 
until  they  go  out  again.     Thus  in  one  tablet  we  read : 

"From  the  man,  the  son  of  his  god, 
Thou  shalt  have  no  food  to  eat, 
Thou  shalt  have  no  water  to  drink, 
Thou  shalt  not  stretch  forth  thy  hand 


vii  IN  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA.         231 

Unto  the  table  of  my  father  Bel,  thy  creator. 
Neither  with  sea-water,  nor  with  sweet  water, 
Nor  with  bad  water,  nor  with  Tigris  water, 
Nor  with  Euphrates  water,  nor  with  pond  water, 
Nor  with  river  water  shalt  thou  be  covered."  59 

g.  Necromancy. — The  Babylonians  and  the  Assyrians 
believed  that  it  was  possible  by  certain  magic  rites  to  call 
up  spirits  of  the  dead  to  answer  questions  or  to  injure 
enemies.  The  person  who  possessed  this  power  was 
known  as  "raiser  of  the  departed  spirit."  In  the 
Gilgamesh  Epic60  we  are  told  how  Gilgamesh  applied 
first  to  the  god  Enlil  for  help  to  bring  up  the  ghost  of 
his  dead  friend  Enkidu  ( Eabani ) ,  but  received  no  answer. 
He  then  applied  to  the  moon-god,  but  equally  unsuccess- 
fully. Finally  he  applied  to  Enki  (Ea),  god  of  the 
ocean,  the  master  of  magic  arts,  and  obtained  his  request. 

"Father  Ea  heard  his  prayer, 
Spoke  to  the  mighty  one,  the  hero  Nergal, 
Mighty  one,  hero  Nergal,  hear  his  prayer! 
Open  at  once  the  hole  of  the  earth, 
Let  the  ghost  of  Enkidu  ascend  out  of  the  earth, 
Let  him  tell  his  brother  the  law  of  the  earth ! 
The  mighty  one,  the  hero  Nergal  .  .  . 
Opened  at  once  the  hole  of  the  earth, 
And  the  ghost  of  Enkidu  ascended  like  a  wind  out  of  the  earth." 

Gilgamesh  then  says  to  Enkidu: 

"Tell  me,  my  friend,  tell  me,  my  friend, 
The  law  of  the  earth  that  thou  hast  seen." 

The  whole  narrative  bears  a  striking  resemblance  to 
the  account  of  the  raising  of  the  ghost  of  Samuel  by  the 
witch  of  Endor  in  1  Samuel,  chapter  28. 

■•  Thompion,    I.    p.    61. 
•"Tablet  xii.   col.   3. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

EARLIEST  HEBREW  CONCEPTIONS  OF  THE  DEAD1 

From  the  period  prior  to  the  conquest  of  Canaan  no 
written  records  of  the  Hebrews  have  come  down  to  us, 
nevertheless,  by  means  of  the  science  of  comparative 
religion  their  earliest  beliefs  in  regard  to  the  nature  and 
destiny  of  the  soul  may  be  determined  with  a  high  degree 
of  certainty.  When  in  the  later  writings  of  the  Old 
Testament  we  discover  conceptions  that  are  identical  with 
those  of  the  other  Semites  and  of  primitive  races  through- 
out the  world,  we  are  justified  in  inferring  that  these  are 
survivals  from  the  earliest  period  of  the  religion  of  Israel. 
a.  The  Distinction  Between  Soul  and  Body. — The 
early  Hebrews,  like  all  the  other  Semites,  regarded  man 
as  composed  of  two  elements,  basar,  or  'flesh,'  and  nefesh, 
or  'breath.'  The  basar  was  the  material  element  that 
at  death  returned  to  dust.  The  same  word  was  used  for 
the  "meat"  of  slaughtered  animals.  Men  were  called 
"flesh"  and  "all  flesh"  was  used  as  a  synonym  for  "man- 
kind" to  emphasize  the  transitory,  perishable  side  of 
human  life.  The  nefesh  or  'breath'  was  an  ethereal 
substance  that  inhabited  the  basar.  It  was  identical  with 
the  life.2     It  was  the  seat  of  knowledge,  appetite,  emo- 

1  The  most  important  works  on  Spiritism  among  the  Hebrews  are:  Stade, 
Geschichte  des  Volkes  Israel  (1881),  I,  387ft.;  Biblische  Theologie  (1905),  185 ff.; 
Schwally,  Das  Leben  nach  dem  Tode  nach  den  Vorstellungen  des  alten  Israels 
(1892);  Frey,  Tod,  Seelenglaube  und  Seelenkult  im  alten  Israel  (1898);  Charles, 
A  Critical  History  of  the  Doctrine  of  a  Future  Life  (1899);  Gruneisen,  Der 
Ahnenkultus  und  die  Urreligion  Israels  (1900);  Guerinot,  "Le  culte  des  morts 
chez  les  Hebreux,"  Journal  Asiatique,  1904,  pp.  441-85;  Lods,  La  croyance  d  la 
vie  future  et  le  culte  des  morts  dans  I'antiquite  israelite  (1908);  Margoliouth, 
"Ancestor-Worship  (Hebrew  and  Jewish),"  Hastings,  Encyclopedia  of  Religion 
and  Ethics,  I,  444-50,  457-61;  Torge,  Seelenglaube  und  Unsterblichkeitshoffnung 
im  Alten   Testament    (1909);   Burney,   Israel's  Hope   of  Immortality    (1909). 

2  Gen.  44:30  J;  Ex.  21:23  E. 

232 


viii         EARLY  HEBREW  CONCEPTIONS      233 

tion,  and  activity.3  In  composition  with  the  pronominal 
suffixes  nefesh  had  the  meaning  of  'self,'  e.  g.,  nafshi, 
'my  breath,'  equals  'myself.'  It  resided  in  the  blood, 
hence  the  commandment,  "Be  sure  that  thou  eat  not  the 
blood,  for  the  blood  is  the  nefesh,  and  thou  shalt  not  eat 
the  nefesh  with  the  flesh;  thou  shalt  pour  it  upon  the 
earth  as  water."  4  The  heart  as  the  chief  receptacle  of 
blood  in  the  body  was  also  identified  with  the  nefesh, 
hence  throughout  the  Old  Testament  "heart"  is  used  in- 
terchangeably with  "breath"  where  we  should  say  "mind" 
or  "soul."  Death  was  caused  by  the  departure  of  the 
"breath."  5  Resurrection  was  the  return  of  the  "breath" 
into  the  body.6  Rudh,  'wind,'  was  used  in  the  early 
period  practically  as  a  synonym  of  nefesh,  'breath.' 

b.  The  Continued  Existence  of  the  Disembodied 
Soul. — The  early  Hebrews,  like  the  other  Semites,  be- 
lieved that  the  nefesh,  or  'breath,'  persisted  after  death. 
The  most  ancient  Hebrew  tombs  in  Palestine  contain 
precisely  the  same  deposits  that  are  found  in  other 
Semitic  tombs,  and  bear  witness  to  the  same  conception  of 
immortality  that  was  held  by  the  other  Semitic  peoples.7 
Nefesh  is  used  as  the  name  of  the  disembodied  spirit.8 
Belief  in  the  continued  existence  of  the  dead  is  strikingly 
exemplified  in  the  narrative  of  the  appearance  of  the 
ghost  of  Samuel  to  Saul.9 

c.  Powers  Retained  by  the  Soul  in  Death. — The 
Hebrews  believed  that  the  dead  retained  a  large  measure 
of  their  former  intellectual  and  emotional  faculties. 
The  shades  are  represented  as  rejoicing  at  the  downfall 
of  the  king  of  Babylon.10     Pharaoh  is  comforted  when 

3  E.g.,  I  Sam.  2:16;  Gen.  34:3  J;  II  Sam.  5:8. 
«Deut.   12:23f.;  cf.   Lev.    17:10;  Gen.  9:4. 
»Gen.  35:18  J. 
"I  Ki.  17:21f. 

7  Palestine  Exploration  Fund,   Quarterly  Statement,   1904,  pp.   328ff. 
6Cf.      Lev.      19:28;      21:1;      21:11;      Num.      5:2;      6:6;      6:11;      9:6f.;      9:10; 
19:1  If.;  Hag.  2:13. 
8 1   Sam.,   chap.   28. 
10Isa.   14:9£. 


234  SPIRITISM  vm 

he  sees  the  hosts  of  the  dead  that  have  preceded  him.11 
Rachel  mourns  over  the  captivity  of  her  children.12  From 
Isa.  63:16  it  appears  that  some  of  the  nation  believed 
that  Abraham  and  Israel  continued  to  care  for  their  de- 
scendants. According  to  I  Sam.  28:16-19,  Samuel  re- 
members his  relations  with  Saul,  and  continues  to  feel 
concern  in  the  welfare  of  Israel.  The  blood  of  murdered 
Abel  cries  to  Yahweh  from  the  earth,13  that  is,  the  soul 
that  resides  in  the  blood  is  conscious  of  the  wrong  done 
to  it  and  demands  vengeance.  Compare  Job  24:12: 
"From  out  of  the  cities  the  dead  groan,  and  the  soul  of 
the  slain  crieth  out";  also  Enoch  9:10:  "Now,  behold, 
the  spirits  of  the  dead  cry  out,  and  lament  even  unto  the 
gates  of  heaven";  and  Rev.  6:9,  where  the  souls  under 
the  altar  cry  out:  "How  long,  O  Master,  the  holy  and 
true,  dost  thou  not  avenge  our  blood  on  them  that  dwell 
on  the  earth?"  A  father's  blessing  or  curse  operates 
after  his  death  because  he  himself  sees  to  its  fulfilment. 
Hence  the  exaggerated  reverence  for  parents  and  the 
aged  that  we  find  among  the  ancient  Hebrews. 

In  contrast  to  these  passages,  which  ascribe  to  the  dead 
a  continuance  of  those  powers  of  thought  and  feeling 
that  they  enjoyed  on  earth,  another  view  appears  in  the 
later  writings  of  the  Old  Testament,  according  to  which 
the  dead  have  lost  memory,  knowledge,  and  desire.  This 
view,  as  we  shall  see  more  fully  later,  was  a  result  of  the 
conflict  of  the  religion  of  Yahweh  against  primitive 
animism  and  ancestor-worship.  The  other  conception, 
which  ascribed  to  the  dead  large  powers  of  thought  and 
feeling,  was,  as  comparative  religion  shows,  the  original 
Hebrew  belief.14 

d.  Powers  Gained  by  the  Soul  in  Death. — The  gen- 
eral Semitic  belief  in  the  superhuman  powers  of  disem- 
bodied   spirits    was    shared   by    the    ancient    Hebrews. 

"Ezek.  32:31. 
»Jer.  31:15. 

13  Gen.   4:10. 

14  Charles,  Eschatalogy  Hebrew  and  Christian,  p.  41. 


vin  EARLY  HEBREW  CONCEPTIONS      235 

Ghosts,  like  gods,  could  take  possession  of  stones  or 
images.  Heaps  of  stones  were  placed  over  the  graves 
of  Achan  and  of  Absalom  that  their  ghosts  might  remain 
in  them  and  trouble  Israel  no  longer.15  A  massebd,  or 
'standing  stone,'  stood  upon  Rachel's  grave  'unto  this 
day.'  16  This  was  doubtless  a  beth-el,  or  'house  of 
deity,'  as  were  all  the  other  masseboth.11  Masseboth 
of  this  sort  must  have  been  the  seats  of  cult  of  the  dead, 
since  no  exception  is  made  in  their  favour  in  the  sweeping 
condemnation  of  later  legislation.18  The  view  of  Stade, 
Schwally,  Budde,  Holzinger,  Nowack,  and  Charles  that 
the  teraphim  were  images  of  ancestors  cannot  be  dem- 
onstrated! but  is  nevertheless  exceedingly  probable  in  view 
of  the  facts  that  they  were  not  images  of  Yahweh,19  that 
they  represented  the  human  form,20  that  they  were  house- 
hold gods,21  and  that  they  were  used  for  obtaining 
oracles.22  Etymologically  the  word  may  be  connected 
with  rephaim,  'shades,'  or  with  Bab.  tarpu,  'spectre.' 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Wisd.  Sol.  14:15  connects 
the  origin  of  idolatry  with  images  of  the  dead. 

Of  the  belief  that  spirits  could  take  possession  of 
animals  we  find  no  trace  in  the  Old  Testament,  unless  it 
be  in  the  list  of  unclean  beasts  Lev.,  chap.  1 1,  and  Deut., 
chap.  14.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  animals  and  birds 
here  pronounced  unclean  are  precisely  those  which  the 
other  Semites  regarded  as  most  often  possessed  by  spirits. 
From  Exod.  20:4  (cf.  II  Kings  18:4;  Ezek.  8:10)  we 
learn  that  the  early  Hebrews  worshipped  images  of 
animals,  which  shows  that  they  regarded  animals  as  the 
abodes  of  spirits. 

Of  the  idea  that  spirits  could  take  possession  of  men, 
causing  disease,  insanity,  or  inspiration,  a  survival  is  seen 

"Josh.    7:26;   II   Sam.    18:17. 

16  Gen.  35:20;  cf.   II   Sam.   18:18. 

"Gen.  35:14f. 

18  Exod.   23:24;   34:13;  Lev.   26:1;   Deut.   7:5;    12:3;    16:22. 

"Gen.  35:2,  4,  E;  cf.  31:19,  E. 

20 1   Sam.   19:13,   16. 

"Gen.  31:30,  34;  Judg.  17:5;  I  Sam.  19:13,  16. 

22  I   Sam.   15:23;  II  Kings  23:24;  Ezek.  21:21;  Zech.   10:2. 


236  SPIRITISM  vm 

among  the  Hebrews  in  the  fact  that  diseases  such  as 
leprosy  rendered  one  ceremonially  unclean.  Being  caused 
by  rival  spirits,  they  roused  the  jealousy  of  Yahweh,  and 
excluded  the  sufferer  from  his  cult.  In  later  times  they 
were  ascribed  to  the  activity  of  Yahweh  himself,  who  thus 
absorbed  the  functions  of  the  ancient  lesser  spirits;23 
but,  with  curious  inconsistency,  the  diseases  still  remained 
unclean.  The  insanity  of  Saul  was  due  to  "an  evil  spirit 
from  Yahweh  that  terrified  him,"  24  and  such  insanity 
protected  a  man  from  injury,  because,  as  in  the  modern 
Orient,  he  was  regarded  as  inspired.25  To  stir  up  trouble 
between  Abimelech  and  the  Shechemites,  God  sent  an 
evil  spirit  into  them;26  and  in  order  that  Sennacherib 
might  depart,  Yahweh  sent  a  spirit  into  him.27  In  the 
developed  Hebrew  theology  all  extraordinary  talents  or 
powers  were  ascribed  to  possession  by  the  spirit  of 
Yahweh;28  but  this  idea  was  due  to  absorption  by 
Yahweh  of  the  functions  of  originally  independent  spirits, 
as  is  shown  by  the  survival  in  the  Hebrew  language  of 
such  expressions  as  "spirit  of  wisdom,  spirit  of  might, 
spirit  of  jealousy,  spirit  of  error,  spirit  of  deep  sleep." 

Spirits  of  the  dead  possessed  greater  knowledge  than 
living  men.  When  the  ghost  of  Samuel  appeared  to  Saul, 
he  predicted  to  him  his  impending  death  and  the  defeat 
of  Israel.29  Hence  when  these  spirits  took  possession 
of  men  they  induced  clairvoyant  powers.  Such  a  pos- 
sessing spirit  was  called  yidde'drii,  'the  knowing  one,' 
or  as  our  version  renders  it,  'familiar  spirit.'  30  Another 
name  is  'obh,  the  etymology  and  exact  meaning  of  which 
are  unknown.31     Because  of  these  superhuman  powers 

»Num.    12:10;    I    Sam.    25:38;    I    Kings    17:20. 

21 1   Sam.    16:14. 

26 1   Sam.  21:12-15;   24:7. 

2°Judg.   9:23. 

27 II  Kings  19:7. 

28Exod.  28:3;  31:3;  Num.  27:18;  Judg.  6:34;  11:29;  13:25;  14:6,  19;  15:14; 
I    Sam.    11:6. 

28  I  Sam.  28:19. 

80I  Sam.  28:3,  9;  Isa.  8:19;  19:3;  II  Ki.  21:6;  23:24;  Deut.  18:11;  Lev. 
19:31;  20:6;  27. 

"I  Sam.  28:7f.;  Isa.  29:4. 


viii        EARLY  HEBREW  CONCEPTIONS       237 

the  Hebrews,  like  the  other  Semites,  applied  to  ghosts  the 
name  elohim,  'gods.'  32 

The  dead  were  believed  to  retain  the  semblance  of 
their  former  bodies,  and  to  be  able  to  appear  not  only 
to  one  another  but  also  to  the  living.  The  ghost  of 
Samuel  was  recognized  by  Saul  because  he  appeared  as 
"an  old  man  covered  with  a  robe."  33  The  kings  of  the 
earth  still  wore  their  royal  apparel  and  sat  on  thrones 
in  the  other  world.34  The  dead  of  all  the  different 
nations  were  recognizable  by  their  features  and  their 
costumes.  The  warriors  "had  their  weapons  of  war 
and  laid  their  swords  under  their  heads."  The  uncir- 
cumcised  remained  uncircumcised;  those  pierced  with  the 
sword  still  showed  the  fatal  gash.35  Hence  wounded 
warriors  committed  suicide  that  they  might  appear  in 
the  other  world  to  have  died  as  heroes.36 

In  the  Old  Testament  appearances  of  ghosts  are  rarely 
mentioned,  because  the  religion  of  Yahweh  was  opposed 
to  necromancy  and  the  cult  of  the  dead;  still  there  is  the 
classical  instance  of  the  raising  of  Samuel.37  In  post- 
biblical  literature  apparitions  of  the  dead  are  more  fre- 
quently mentioned.  Thus  in  II  Mac.  15:12-16  the  high 
priest  Onias  and  the  prophet  Jeremiah  appear  to  Judas 
Maccabaeus  on  the  eve  of  the  battle  with  the  Syrians, 
and  in  Josephus 38  Alexander  appears  to  his  widow 
Glaphyra. 

e.  Powers  Lost  by  the  Soul  in  Death. — The  Hebrews, 
like  the  other  Semites,  thought  of  the  soul  as  losing  its 
physical  powers  in  parting  from  the  body.  For  them  it 
was  only  "breath"  or  "wind."  The  common  name  for 
ghosts  is  rephaim,  'feeble  ones.'39  In  Isa.  14:10  the 
ghosts  say:     "Art  thou  also  become  weak  as  we?"     In 

"I    Sam.    28:13. 

33  I   Sam.   28:14. 

"Isa.    14:9. 

S5Ezek.    32:21-32;   cf.   28:10;   31:18. 

36Judg.  9:54;   I   Sam.   31:4;   II  Sam.   17:23. 

37 1    Sam.,   chap.    28;   cf.   Job   4:15. 

38  Ant.  XVII,   13:4;   War,  II,  7:4. 

"Job  26:5;  Ps.  88:11   [10];  Prov.  2:18;  Isa.   14:9;  26:19. 


238  SPIRITISM  vm 

Ps.  88  14  the  sick  man  says:  "I  am  like  to  them  that  go 
down  into  the  pit;  I  am  as  a  man  that  hath  no  help." 
According  to  Isa.  59:10  they  "grope  as  those  that  have 
no  eyes,  and  stumble  at  noon  as  in  the  twilight."  40  Such 
statements  show  that  the  Hebrews  inherited  from  their 
forefathers  the  general  belief  of  primitive  man  in  the 
shadowy,  unsubstantial  nature  of  disembodied  souls. 

/.  The  Abode  of  the  Disembodied  Spirit. — Among 
the  Hebrews,  as  among  the  other  Semites,  the  soul  was 
believed  to  retain  a  close  connection  with  its  dead  body. 
The  corpse  and  everything  connected  with  it  rendered 
one  who  touched  it  taboo.  Originally  this  was  a  sacred 
taboo  due  to  the  presence  of  the  revered  spirits  in  the 
body;  subsequently,  in  consequence  of  the  opposition  of 
Yahwism  to  the  cult  of  the  dead,  it  was  regarded  as 
an  unclean  taboo.41  The  cult  of  the  patriarchs  and 
heroes  that  was  carried  on  at  their  graves  proves  that 
they  were  supposed  still  to  haunt  their  bodies.  The 
voice  of  Rachel  weeping  for  her  children  was  heard  in 
Ramah  on  the  road  between  Bethel  and  Bethlehem  where 
her  body  was  buried.42  Similarly,  in  Mark  5  :5,  the  man 
possessed  by  the  unclean  spirit  dwelt  among  the  tombs. 
Injuries  to  the  body  were  still  felt  by  the  soul.  Job 
1 4:2 if.,  while  denying  that  the  dead  man  cares  anything 
about  his  sons,  yet  affirms,  "Only  for  his  own  body  he 
feels  pain,  and  for  his  own  soul  he  mourns."  Hence 
mutilation  of  the  corpses  of  enemies  was  practised  by 
the  Hebrews  as  by  other  ancient  peoples.43 

Among  the  Hebrews  there  existed  the  same  horror  of 
remaining  unburied  that  was  felt  by  the  other  Semites. 
Fathers  on  their  deathbeds  solemnly  charged  their  sons 
not  to  neglect  the  last  rites.44  When  the  prophet  de- 
clared,  "They  shall  not  be   gathered  nor  buried,   they 

«<>Cf.   Ezek.  26:20f. 

41  E.g.,  Num.  19:11  P. 

"Jer.  31:15;  Gen.  35:16-20. 

"I   Sam.    17:51ff.;    18:25,   27;    II    Sam.   4:12;   20:22. 

ME.g.,  Gen.  47:30. 


viii         EARLY  HEBREW  CONCEPTIONS      239 

shall  be  as  dung  upon  the  face  of  the  ground,"  45  this 
was  a  fearful  curse.  Still  more  terrible  was  the  thought 
of  being  devoured  by  beasts.46  So  dreadful  did  it  seem 
to  refuse  burial  that  this  was  accorded  even  to  crim- 
inals,47 or  to  those  who  committed  suicide.48  Only  the 
bodies  of  foreign  enemies,  or  of  the  most  heinous  offend- 
ers were  left  unburied,49  or  were  burnt.50  Violation  of 
tombs  and  burning  of  their  contents  were  regarded  as 
terrible  calamities.51 

Not  merely  burial  but  also  burial  in  the  family  grave 
was  earnestly  desired  by  the  Hebrews.  Jacob  required 
of  Joseph  that  he  should  bury  him  in  the  burying-place 
of  his  fathers.52  Of  nearly  all  the  kings  of  Judah  it  is 
recorded  that  they  were  buried  with  their  fathers  in  the 
city  of  David;  hence  the  euphemistic  expressions  for 
burial,  "gather  unto  one's  fathers,"  "gather  unto  one's 
kin,"  "lie  with  one's  fathers."  Exclusion  from  the  family 
tomb  was  a  severe  punishment.53  All  this  shows  that 
the  Hebrews,  like  other  ancient  peoples,  believed  that  the 
soul  lingered  with  the  corpse,  and  that  by  burial  in  the 
family  tomb  it  enjoyed  the  fellowship  of  its  relatives. 
This  explains  why  offerings  to  the  dead  were  placed 
either  in  or  upon  their  graves.  Hebrew  tombs  in  Pales- 
tine contain  the  same  sorts  of  deposits  that  are  placed 
in  the  earlier  Canaanite  tombs,  and  offerings  to  the  dead 
are  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament.54 

"Jer.   25:33;   cf.   Isa.    14:18f.;   Jer.   22:19;    36:30. 

"II  Sam.  21:10;  I  Kings  14:13;  II  Kings  9:3Sff. 

"Deut.    21:22f.;    Josh.    7:24-26. 

-  Josephus,  War,  III,  8:5. 

*»I  Sam.    17:44;   Ezek.   29:5. 

•°Isa.    30:33;   Gen.   38:24;   Lev.   20:14;   Josh.    7:15. 

"Am.  2:1;  I  Kings  13:2;  II  Kings  23:16,  20. 

MGen.  47:30;  cf.  50:25;  II  Sam.   17:23;    19:37;  21:14. 

"11  Sam.   18:17;  I  Kings  13:22;  II.Kings  21:18;  II  Chron.  28:27. 

MDeut.   26:14;  Jer.   16:7;   Ezek.   24:17,   22;  II   Chron.   16:14. 


CHAPTER  IX 

BABYLONIAN   INFLUENCE   ON    HEBREW   CONCEPTIONS   OF 

THE  DEAD 

In  the  previous  chapter  we  considered  those  conceptions 
of  the  future  life  which  the  Hebrews  held  before  their 
migration  out  of  their  primitive  home  in  the  Arabian 
desert.  We  must  now  consider  the  new  elements  that 
entered  their  eschatology  in  consequence  of  the  conquest 
of  Canaan. 

The  Canaanites  were  a  Semitic  people,  closely  akin 
to  Israel;  and  their  original  beliefs  concerning  the  soul, 
as  archaeology  shows,  were  identical  with  those  of  the 
other  Semites;  but,  as  a  result  of  long-continued  Babylo- 
nian influence,  these  beliefs  had  undergone  many  im- 
portant modifications  during  the  two  millenniums  that 
preceded  the  Hebrew  conquest.1  Babylonian  ideas  of 
the  other  world  were  adopted  by  the  Canaanites,  and 
were  passed  on  to  the  Hebrews  who  settled  among  them 
and  amalgamated  with  them.  As  a  result  of  this  process 
the  Old  Testament  contains  not  only  primitive  Semitic 
beliefs  about  the  future  life,  but  also  another  diverse 
cycle  of  ideas  which  goes  back  ultimately  to  a  Babylonian 
origin. 

The  Hebrew  conception  of  Sheol  is  in  every  particular 
the  counterpart  of  the  ancient  Babylonian  conception  of 
Aralu  as  described  in  chapter  vii.  As  among  the 
Babylonians,  so  also  in  the  Old  Testament  "Death"  or 
"the  Dead,"  is  used  frequently  in  poetic  parallelism  with 
Sheol.2     As  among  the  Babylonians,  so  also  in  the  Old 

1  Paton,  Early  History  of  Syria  and  Palestine,  chap.  iv. 
'E.g.,  II   Sam.  22:Sf.;  Hos.   13:14;  Ps.   115:17. 

240 


ix  BABYLONIAN  INFLUENCE  241 

Testament  "Earth"  is  a  frequent  synonym  of  Sheol.3  To 
the  Babylonian  conception  of  the  "Great  Beneath"  cor- 
responds the  Hebrew  Eres-tahtiyd  (or  tahtiyoth),  which 
our  version  renders  "the  lower  part  of  the  earth"  but 
which  more  properly  means  "Lower  Land"  or  "Under- 
world." 4  The  Babylonian  idea  of  "the  Hollow"  appears 
in  the  Old  Testament  in  the  name  Bor,  'the  Pit,'  5  or 
the  synonymous  Shahath.6 

As  in  Babylonia  so  also  in  the  Old  Testament  one 
"goes  down"  or  is  "brought  down"  to  Sheol,7  and  the 
sick  man  who  barely  escapes  death  is  said  to  be  "brought 
up"  from  Sheol.8  How  literally  this  language  is  meant 
is  shown  by  the  story  of  Korah  and  his  company  who 
"went  down  alive  into  Sheol,"  9  or  Amos  9 :2,  which 
speaks  of  "digging  into  Sheol."  Isa.  7:11  speaks  of 
"going  deep  unto  Sheol";  Isa.  29:4  of  the  shade  as 
speaking  "deep  from  the  earth"  ;  Isa.  57  :g,  of  "descending 
deep  unto  Sheol."  Sheol  is  called  the  "under  part  of 
the  earth,"  10  and  both  Sheol  and  the  Pit  have  the  ad- 
jective "beneath"  attached  to  them.11  Ecclus.  51:5 
speaks  of  the  "depth  of  the  belly  of  Hades."  Sheol  is 
lower  than  the  foundations  of  the  mountains.12  Beneath 
the  earth  are  the  "waters  under  the  earth,"  13  but  Sheol  is 
lower  than  these.14  The  deepest  thing  conceivable  is 
said  to  be  "deeper  than  Sheol,"  15  and  the  depths  of  Sheol 
are  often  contrasted  with  the  heights  of  heaven.16 

3  Exod.  15:12;  Isa.  14:9;  29:4;  Eccles.  3:21;  see  Gunkel,  Schopfung  und  Chaos, 
p.  18. 

*Ezek.  26:20;   31:14;   32:18,  24. 

6  Ezek.  26:20;  31:14,  16;  32:18,  23;  Isa.  14:15,  19;  38:18;  Ps.  28:1;  30:3; 
40:2;   88:6;    143:7;   Prov.    1:12;  28:17;   Lam.   3:53,    55. 

8  Job   33:18,  24,   28,   30;   Isa.    38:17;    51:14;    Ezek.   28:8. 

7Ps.  28:1;  30:3;  88:4;  107:26;  143:7;  Isa.  14:19;  38:18;  Ezek.  26:20; 
31:14,    16;    32:18f. 

8 1  Sam.  2:6;  Jos  33:24,  28,  30;  Ps.  9:13;  16:10;  30:3;  49:15;  86:13;  Lam. 
3:53.   55;  Jonah   2:6;    Wis.    16:13;   Tob.    13:2. 

"Num.    16:30-33;   cf.    Ps.    55:15;    Prov.    1:12. 

10  Ps.   63:9;    139:15;    Isa.   44:23. 

"Deut.  32:22;  Ps.  88:6;  Lam.  3:55. 

"  Deut.    32:22;    Jonah    2:6. 

'3Gen.  49:25;   Exod.   20:4;   Amos  7:4. 

"Job    26:5;    Lam.    3:53;    Jonah    2:3f. 

18  Job  11:8. 

ieJob   11:8;  Ps.   139:8;  Isa.   7:11;  Amos  9:2. 


242  SPIRITISM  ix 

Like  the  Babylonians,  the  Hebrews  believed  that  Sheol 
was  ordinarily  entered  through  a  gate  in  the  western 
horizon  by  which  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  went  down. 
In  Enoch  22:1-4  the  entrance  to  Sheol  is  described  as 
lying  in  the  distant  west.  The  Hebrews  conceived  of 
the  earth  as  surrounded  by  water,  and  therefore  spoke 
of  the  "ends  of  the  earth."  To  reach  Sheol  one  had  to 
pass  across,  or  through  the  waters.  II  Sam.  22:5f. 
(=Ps.  i8:4f.)  reads:  "The  waves  of  Death  compassed 
me,  the  floods  of  Belial  made  me  afraid,  the  cords  of 
Sheol  were  round  about  me,  the  snares  of  Death  came 
upon  me" ;  and  Jonah  2  12-5  :  "Out  of  the  belly  of  Sheol 
I  cried  .  .  .  for  thou  didst  cast  me  into  the  depth,  into 
the  heart  of  the  seas,  and  the  flood  was  round  about  me; 
all  thy  waves  and  thy  billows  passed  over  me.  .  .  .  The 
waters  compassed  me  about,  even  to  the  soul;  the  deep 
was  round  about  me;  the  weeds  were  wrapped  about  my 
head."17  Deut.  30:i2f.  contrasts  "crossing  the  sea" 
with  "going  up  into  heaven,"  and  in  Rom.  10:7  "crossing 
the  sea"  is  interpreted  as  "descending  into  the  abyss." 
Of  the  ferryman  across  the  "Waters  of  Death"  there  is 
no  trace  in  the  Old  Testament.  Spirits  are  supposed 
rather  to  "fly  away"  to  their  abode.18  The  bird-like 
form  assumed  by  the  soul  for  its  journey  was  a  wide- 
spread belief  of  antiquity,  and  appears  probably  in  the 
word  "twitter"  that  is  used  of  the  voice  of  ghosts.19 

The  Babylonian  conception  of  the  seven  divisions  of 
Sheol  is  familiar  to  Jewish  Theology.20  They  are  first 
mentioned  in  II  Esdras  7.80  ff.,  but  the  idea  is  certainly 
much  more  ancient.  Prov.  7  127  knows  of  the  "chambers 
of  Death"  and  Isa.  14:15;  Ezek.  32:23  of  the  "recesses 
of  the  Pit."  The  gates  of  Sheol  are  referred  to  in  Job 
38:17;  Ps.  9:13;  107:18;  Isa.  38  :io;  Wis.  16:13;  Matt. 
16:18;  and  their  bars  in  Job  17:16;  Jonah  2:6.     The 

"Cf.  Job  36:16f.;  Ps.  88:7;   107:26;   124:3-5;   Lam.  3:54;  Amos  9:2f. 

"Ps.    90:10. 

19  Isa.    8:19;    29:4. 

30  Eisenmenger,  Entdecktes  Judenthum,  II,  328ff. 


ix  BABYLONIAN  INFLUENCE  243 

Greek  text  of  Job  38:17  speaks  of  the  "gatekeepers  of 
Sheol." 

The  same  confusion  between  the  grave  and  Sheol  that 
existed  in  Babylonia  is  found  also  in  the  Old  Testament. 
Sheol  and  the  grave  are  used  interchangeably  in  a  great 
number  of  passages.21  Isa.  14:11  says,  "Thy  pomp  is 
brought  down  to  Sheol  .  .  .  the  worm  is  spread  under 
thee,  and  worms  cover  thee."  Ezek.  32:17-32  speaks 
of  all  the  nations  as  lying  in  graves  in  the  midst  of  Sheol. 
Like  the  Babylonians,  the  Hebrews  regarded  Sheol  as  a 
place  of  darkness.  In  Job  10:2 if.  it  is  called  "The  land 
of  darkness  and  of  deep  gloom,  the  land  of  thick  dark- 
ness like  darkness  itself,  the  land  of  deep  gloom  without 
any  order,  and  where  the  light  is  as  darkness."  22  As 
among  the  Babylonians,  so  also  in  the  Old  Testament 
"dust"  is  a  synonym  of  Sheol.23 

The  Babylonian  belief  in  a  king  of  Sheol  who  ruled 
over  a  host  of  malignant  spirits  is  found  also  in  the  Old 
Testament.  Sheol  is  frequently  personified  as  a  hungry 
monster  opening  its  jaws  to  devour  men.24  It  seems  to 
have  been  worshipped  as  a  deity  by  the  Canaanites,  to 
judge  from  certain  place-names  in  Palestine.25  Muth, 
'Death,'  was  deified  by  the  Phoenicians.26  He  appears 
in  the  Hebrew  personal  name  Ahi-Moth,  'Death  is  a 
brother,'  and  probably  in  several  place-names.  In  the 
Old  Testament  Death  is  often  personified  and  is  used  in 
parallelism  with  Sheol.27  He  appears  as  the  ruler  of 
Sheol  in  Ps.  49:14:  "They  are  appointed  as  a  flock  for 
Sheol,  Death  shall  be  their  shepherd" ;  and  in  Job  18:14: 
"He  shall  be  brought  to  the  King  of  Terrors."  Another 
demon  of  the  Underworld  is  apparently  Belial 
(Beliya'al) ,  which  the  scribes  have  fancifully  vocalized 

31  E.g.,   Gen.    37:35;    Ps.    88:3,    5,    11. 

"Cf.  Job  17:13;  38:17;  Ps.  88:6,  12;   143:3;  Ps.  of  Sol.   14:19. 

"Job  7:21;   17:16;   Isa.  29:4. 

"Isa.  5:14;   Hab.  2:5;  Jonah  2:2;  Prov.   1:12;  27:20;  30:15f. 

"  H.  P.  Smith,  in  Studies  in  Memory  of  W.  R.  Harper,  I,  55. 

"Ibid,  61. 

"Job  30:23;   38:17;   Ps.   107:18. 


244  SPIRITISM  ix 

as  though  it  meant  'without  use,'  but  which  may  mean 
'the  god  who  swallows'  (Bali'el).28  Similar  is  the 
"destroyer"  of  Exod.  12:23,  or  the  "destroyers"  of  Job 
33  :22.  Diseases  are  often  personified  as  the  evil  demons 
of  Sheol :  "Terrors  shall  make  him  afraid  on  every 
side,  and  shall  chase  him  at  his  heels.  His  strength  shall 
be  hunger-bitten,  and  Calamity  shall  be  ready  at  his  side. 
It  shall  devour  the  members  of  his  body,  yea  the  First- 
born of  Death  shall  devour  his  members";29  "Shall  I 
ransom  them  from  the  power  of  Sheol?  Shall  I  redeem 
them  from  Death?  Hither  with  thy  plagues,  O  Death! 
Hither  with  thy  pestilence,  O  Sheol!";30  "The  pangs 
of  Death  compassed  me,  and  the  pains  of  Sheol  got 
hold  upon  me."  31  The  death-angels  of  later  Judaism 
are  simply  the  degraded  gods  of  the  Underworld  of  an 
earlier  period. 

The  inevitableness  of  Sheol  was  keenly  felt  by  the 
early  Babylonians,  and  similarly  the  ancient  Hebrews 
said,  "I  go  the  way  of  all  the  earth";32  "I  know  that 
thou  wilt  bring  me  to  Death, and  to  the  house  appointed 
for  all  the  living" ;  33  "What  man  is  he  that  shall  live 
and  not  see  Death,  that  shall  deliver  his  soul  from  the 
hand  of  Sheol?"  34  "Remember  the  sentence  upon  him, 
for  so  also  shall  thine  be;  yesterday  for  me,  and  today 
for  thee."  35  Only  a  few  Babylonian  heroes  escaped 
going  down  to  Sheol  by  being  translated  to  the  gods.  In 
the  Old  Testament  we  have  the  similar  cases  of  Enoch  36 
and  Elijah.37  Such  translations  were,  however,  so  rare 
that  they  constituted  no  basis  for  hope  that  men  in 
general  would  escape  the  common  doom  of  humanity. 

2»Nah.    1:15;    II    Sam.    22:5    (=Ps.    18:5). 

"E.g.,  Job.  18:11-13. 

»°Hos.    13:14. 

aPs.  116:3;  cf.  II.  Sam.  22:6. 

"Josh.   23:14;   I   Kings  2:2. 

"Job   30:23. 

**Ps.  89:48. 

"Ecclus.    38:22. 

MGen.   5:24. 

»TII  Kings  2:11. 


ix  BABYLONIAN  INFLUENCE  245 

Like  the  Babylonian  literature,  the  Old  Testament 
knows  of  a  distinction  in  the  fate  of  the  dead  in  Sheol. 
Ezek.  31:16  speaks  of  the  kings  of  the  earth  as  "the 
trees  of  Eden,  the  choice  and  best  of  Lebanon,  that  drink 
water  and  are  comforted  in  the  nether  parts  of  the 
earth."  Ezek.  32:23;  Isa.  14:15,  19  speak  of  those  who 
go  down  to  "the  recesses  of  the  Pit"  or  the  "stones  of 
the  Pit";  but  in  both  of  these  cases  their  sad  fate  is  not 
due  to  sin,  but  to  the  fact  that  they  are  "cast  forth  from 
the  sepulchre  like  an  abominable  branch  ...  as  a 
carcase  trodden  under  foot."  Lack  of  burial  prevented 
rest  in  Sheol,  and  lack  of  burial  in  the  family  tomb  ex- 
cluded one  from  the  society  of  his  relatives,38  but  there 
is  no  trace  in  the  Old  Testament  of  a  division  of  the  dead 
on  the  basis  of  character.  The  sinner  is  threatened  with 
Sheol  as  a  punishment,  but  never  with  a  particular  section 
of  Sheol.39  The  righteous  Samuel  says  to  the  wicked 
Saul,  who  has  been  rejected  by  the  Lord,  "Tomorrow 
shalt  thou  and  thy  sons  be  with  me."  40  Jacob  says,  "I 
shall  go  down  to  the  grave  unto  my  son  mourning,"  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  he  supposes  Joseph  to  have  been 
devoured  by  a  beast,  and  therefore  to  be  unburied.41 
The  Old  Testament  thinks  far  more  frequently  of  the 
miserable  lot  of  all  the  shades  than  of  distinctions  that 
exist  among  them.  Isa.  14:9-23  and  Ezek.  32:18-32 
speak  of  all  men  of  all  races  as  dwelling  together  in  Sheol, 
and  Job  3  :i3-i9  says: 

"Now  should  I  have  lain  down  and  been  quiet;  I  should  have 
slept;  then  had  I  been  at  rest,  with  kings  and  counsellors  of  the 
earth  who  built  tombs  for  themselves,  or  with  princes  that  had 
gold,  who  filled  their  houses  with  silver:  or  as  a  hidden  untimely 
birth  I  had  not  been :  as  infants  which  never  saw  light.  There 
the  wicked  cease  from  troubling;  and  there  the  weary  are  at  rest. 
There  the  prisoners  are  at  ease  together;  they  hear  not  the  voice 

"  See  p.  239. 
89  Cf.  Prov.  2:18;  21:16. 
40  I  Sam.  28:19. 
«Gen.  37:33,  35  J. 


246  SPIRITISM  ix 

of  the  taskmaster.     The  small  and  the  great  are  there;  and  the 
slave  is  free  from  his  master." 

The  Babylonian  laments  over  the  impossibility  of  re- 
turning from  Sheol  find  their  echo  in  the  Old  Testament. 
David  says,  "I  shall  go  to  him,  but  he  shall  not  return 
to  me" ;  42  and  the  wise  woman  of  Tekoa,  "We  must 
needs  die,  and  are  as  water  spilt  on  the  ground,  which 
cannot  be  gathered  up  again";43  "As  the  cloud  is  con- 
sumed and  vanisheth  away,  so  he  that  goeth  down  to 
Sheol  shall  come  up  no  more.  He  shall  return  no  more 
to  his  house,  neither  shall  his  place  know  him  any 
more."  44 

Like  the  Babylonian  literature,  the  Old  Testament 
holds  that  in  severe  illness  the  soul  leaves  the  body  and 
begins  its  journey  to  the  Underworld.  Thus  Job  33  :  19-22 
says :  "He  is  chastened  with  pain  upon  his  bed,  and  with 
continual  strife  in  his  bones.  His  flesh  is  consumed  away 
that  it  cannot  be  seen,  and  his  bones  that  were  not  seen 
stick  out.  Yea  his  soul  draweth  near  unto  the  Pit,  and 
his  life  to  the  Destroyers."  Similarly  Ps.  88  i^i. :  "My 
soul  is  full  of  troubles,  and  my  life  draweth  near  unto 
Sheol.  I  am  counted  with  them  that  go  down  into  the 
Pit."  Isa.  29  :4  speaks  of  half-dead  Judah  as  speaking 
like  a  ghost  out  of  the  ground.  When  Yahweh,  like  the 
Babylonian  "Quickeners  of  the  Dead,"  takes  pity  on  the 
sufferer  and  restores  him  to  health,  he  is  said  to  bring 
him  back  from  Sheol.  Thus  Hezekiah,  when  cured  of  his 
dangerous  illness,  says:  "Thou  hast  in  love  to  my  soul 
delivered  it  from  the  Pit  of  Beli[al?]."  45  In  none  of 
these  passages  is  a  resurrection  referred  to,  or  even  a 
blessed  immortality  for  the  disembodied  spirit,  but  only 
a  release  from  impending  death.  The  doctrine  of  a  resur- 
rection of  the  body  does  not  appear  in  the  Old  Testament 

"II   Sam.    12:23. 
13  II    Sam.    14:14. 

"Job    7:9f.;   cf.    10:21;    16:22;   Eccles.    12:5;   Ecclus.   38:21;   Wis.    16:14. 
"Isa.  38:17;  cf.  I  Sam.  2:6;  Job  33:24,  28,  30;  Ps.  9:13;   16:10;   30:3;  49:15; 
86:13;  Lam.  3:53,  55;  Jonah  2:6;  Wis.  16:13;  Tob.  13:2. 


ix  BABYLONIAN  INFLUENCE  247 

until  after  the  Exile,  and  therefore  has  no  connection 
with  ancient  Babylonian  beliefs.  Three  cases  are  re- 
corded in  pre-exilic  literature  of  a  raising  of  the  dead 
to  life.  The  first  is  Elijah's  raising  of  the  widow's  son,46 
the  second  is  Elisha's  raising  of  the  son  of  the  woman  of 
Shunem,47  and  the  third  is  the  raising  of  a  dead  man 
through  contact  with  the  bones  of  Elisha.48  In  all  these 
cases  apparent  death  had  just  occurred,  but  the  body  had 
not  yet  been  buried,  so  that  one  may  question  whether 
the  connection  between  soul  and  body  had  been  com- 
pletely severed.  These  restorations  do  not  differ  ma- 
terially from  the  preceding  instances  in  which  the  souls 
of  the  dangerously  ill  are  brought  back  from  the  gates 
of  Sheol.  Pre-exilic  literature  does  not  know  a  single 
instance  in  which  reanimation  occurs  after  dissolution  has 
set  in. 

From  the  foregoing  study  it  appears  that  the  Old  Tes- 
tament doctrine  of  Sheol  is  the  counterpart  in  every  par- 
ticular of  the  Babylonian  doctrine  of  Aralu,  and  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that,  directly  or  indirectly,  it  has  been  derived 
from  Babylonia.  When  we  consider  the  fact  that  this  belief 
appears  in  the  earliest  Hebrew  literature  we  must  assume 
that  it  was  acquired  soon  after  the  conquest  of  Canaan; 
and  that  probably  it  was  acquired  from  the  earlier 
inhabitants  of  the  land,  who,  as  is  known  from  recent 
archaeological  discoveries,  had  become  thoroughly  Baby- 
lonianized  long  before  the  arrival  of  the  Hebrews. 

"I  Kings  17:21ff. 
"II  Kings  4:32ff. 
"II  Kings   13:21. 


CHAPTER  X 

WORSHIP  OF  THE  DEAD  BY  ISRAEL 

The  mourning  and  funeral  rites  of  the  ancient  Hebrews 
were  closely  similar  to  those  of  the  other  Semites,  and 
have  also  many  analogies  in  the  customs  of  primitive 
and  uncivilized  races  throughout  the  world.  There  can 
be  no  doubt,  therefore,  that  they  belonged  to  the  earliest 
period  of  the  religion  of  Israel.  They  all  point  to  an 
original  cult  of  the  dead. 

a.  Removal  of  Garments. — As  soon  as  death  oc- 
curred, or  news  of  it  was  received,  the  Hebrews  "tore 
off"  (A.  V.  "rent")  their  garments.1  Originally,  doubt- 
less, the  mourner  remained  naked  as  long  as  the  funeral 
rites  lasted;  but,  with  advancing  civilization,  this  was 
felt  to  be  indecent;  and  therefore,  after  the  garments 
had  been  torn  off,  sackcloth  was  usually  girded  on.2  The 
"sackcloth"  was  merely  a  kilt  of  goat  or  camel's  hair, 
such  as  had  been  worn  by  the  forefathers  in  the  desert. 
It  was  the  nearest  approach  to  nakedness  that  propriety 
would  allow.  Bare  feet  were  unobjectionable,  and 
therefore  remained  a  sign  of  mourning  down  to  late 
times.3  In  the  post-exilic  period  the  Jews  were  satisfied 
with  merely  tearing  off  the  upper  garment.4  By  the  time 
of  Christ  the  custom  was  conventionalized  into  a  mere 
tearing  of  a  small  piece  out  of  the  robe,  or  a  baring  of 
the  arm  and  shoulder.5 

1Cf.  Mic.   1:8,   11;  Isa.   20:2. 

2  Gen.   37:34;  II   Sam.   3:31;   I  Kings  21:27;   II  Kings  6:30;    19:1;  Esther  4:1. 

•II  Sam.   15:30;  Ezek.  24:17. 

♦Ezra  9:3;   Num.    14:6. 

•Buchler,  Zeitschrift  fiir  die  alttestamentliche  Wissenschoft,  XXI,  81-92; 
Jastrow,  "The  Tearing  of  Garments  as  a  Sign  of  Mourning,"  Journal  American 
Oriental  Society,  XXI,  23. 

248 


x      WORSHIP  OF  THE  DEAD  BY  ISRAEL  249 

The  custom  had  a  religious  origin.  The  case  of  Saul, 
who  stripped  off  his  garments  when  he  prophesied,  and 
lay  all  night  naked,6  shows  that  in  early  times  nudity  was 
regarded  as  the  proper  condition  for  a  seer.  Even  in 
later  days  the  prophets  wore  the  primitive  skin  apron 
("hairy  mantle")  .7  Sandals  were  removed  from  the  feet 
when  entering  holy  ground.8  Similarly  one  stripped  one's 
self  and  removed  one's  sandals  when  mourning  because 
one  was  about  to  take  part  in  the  cult  of  the  dead.9  This 
rite  was  forbidden  to  the  high  priest 10  as  it  was  an  act 
of  worship  to  another  deity  than  Yahweh. 

b.  Covering  the  Head. — The  Hebrews  had  also  the 
custom  of  covering  the  head  or  mouth,  or  laying  the  hand 
on  the  head  as  an  act  of  mourning.11  The  most  natural 
interpretation  of  this  ceremony  is  suggested  by  Exod. 
3  :6  ;  I  Kings  19  :i3,  where  the  prophets  cover  their  heads 
in  the  presence  of  Yahweh  so  as  to  protect  themselves 
from  death  if  they  looked  upon  him.12 

c.  Cuttings  in  the  Flesh. — These  are  referred  to  by 
Jeremiah  as  established  forms  of  mourning  to  which 
the  prophet  does  not  object.13  In  Lev.  19:28  they  are 
associated  with  tattooed  marks.  The  fact  that  they  are 
prohibited  by  Lev.  19:28;  21:5,  and  Deut.  14:1  shows 
that  they  are  known  to  be  religious  rites  in  honour 
of  the  dead.  Lev.  19:28  states  expressly  that  they  are 
made  "for  a  spirit."  The  interpretation  of  the  custom 
is  furnished  by  I  Kings  1 8  128,  where  the  prophets  of  Baal 
cut  themselves  in  honour  of  their  god. 

d.  Cutting  the  Hair. — In  mourning  the  Hebrews 
shaved    the    head,14    made    a    "bald    spot   between    the 

•I    Sam.    19:24. 

7 II  Kings   1:8;   Zech.    13:4;   Matt.   3:4;   Mark   1:6. 
•Exod.  3:5;  Josh.  5:15. 

*  See   Jastrow,   "The   Tearing    of   Garments   as   a    Symbol   of    Mourning,"    Jour. 
Am.  Orient.  Soc,  XXI,  23ff. 
"Lev.  21:10. 

"II  Sam.   13:19;   15:30;   19:4;  Esther  6:12;   Ezek.  24:17,  22;  Mic.  3:7. 
"Exod.   33:20. 

asJer.   16:6;  41:5;   47:5;   48:37. 
uMic.  1:16;  Isa.   15:2;  22:12;  Jer.   16:6;  47:5;  48:37;  Deut.  21:12;   Lev.  21:5. 


25o  SPIRITISM  x 

eyes,"  15  or  shaved  off  the  beard.16  In  later  times  a 
little  of  the  hair  was  plucked  out  as  a  ceremonial 
equivalent.  This  performance  also  must  be  interpreted 
as  an  act  of  worship  to  the  dead.  The  hair  of  the  nazirite 
was  dedicated  to  Yahweh,  and  was  presented  as  a  sacrifice 
when  his  vow  expired.17  The  prohibition  of  cutting  the 
hair  for  the  dead  18  shows  also  that  it  was  regarded  as 
a  religious  ceremony. 

e.  Covering  with  Dust  or  Ashes. — The  Hebrews, 
when  mourning,  seem  originally  to  have  wallowed  in  the 
dust.10  Subsequently  they  sat  in  the  dust,20  or  put  dust 
upon  their  heads.21  The  rite  is  evidently  a  symbolic  act 
of  communion  with  the  dead. 

/.  Fasting. — Fasting  usually  lasted  until  the  evening 
of  the  day  of  death.22  When  it  was  continued  over  a 
longer  period,  e.g.,  seven  days,23  food  was  taken  only 
after  the  sun  had  set,  as  in  the  Muhammadan  feast  of 
Ramadan. 

g.  Burial. — Immediately  after  death  the  eyes  of  the 
corpse  were  closed,24  probably  also  the  mouth,  though 
this  does  not  happen  to  be  mentioned  before  the  Mishna. 
The  body  was  then  washed,25  anointed  with  perfumed 
oils,26  dressed  in  its  best  attire,  and  bound  up  in  the 
position  of  an  unborn  child,  as  we  know  from  the  remains 
in  early  Hebrew  tombs  in  Palestine.27  These  customs 
are  not  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament,  but  their  an- 
tiquity is  proved  by  the  fact  that  they  existed  also  among 

"Deut.    14:1. 

"Isa.    15:2;    Jer.    41  :S;    48:37. 
"Num.   6:5,   18;  Judg.    13:5;    16:17. 
"Lev.   21:5;   Deut.    14:1. 

18Mic.    1:10;   Jer.    6:26;    Ezek.    27:30;    Esther   4:3. 
20Isa.  26:19;  47:1;  52:2;  58:5;  Ezek.  28:18;  Job  2:8;  Jonah  3:6. 
21  Josh.    7:6;    I    Sam.   4:12;    II    Sam.    1:2;    13:19;    Esther   4:1;   Job    2:12;    Lam. 
2:10;   Ezek.  27:30;    II   Mace.    10:25;    14:15;    Rev.    18:19. 
"II    Sam.    1:12;    3:35;    12:21. 
28  I    Sam.    31:13. 
"Gen.    46:4. 
26  Acts    9:37. 

20  Mark  16:1;  Luke  24:1;  John   12:3,  7;    19:40. 
"  Cf.  Matt.   27:59;  Mark   15:46;  Luke  23:53. 


x      WORSHIP  OF  THE  DEAD  BY  ISRAEL  251 

the  Babylonians  and  the  Arabs.28  As  in  the  modern 
Orient,  the  interment  probably  took  place  in  the  evening 
of  the  day  of  death,  which  explains  why  fasting  usually 
lasted  until  the  evening.29  The  body  was  carried  to  the 
grave  on  a  bier,30  and  coffins  were  unknown  in  the  early 
period.  The  poor  were  laid  on  the  ground,  or  in  a 
shallow  trench,  and  were  covered  with  a  mound  of  earth. 
The  rich  were  buried  in  caves  or  in  artificial  tombs  that 
they  had  hewn  out  for  themselves  during  their  lifetime.31 
In  pre-exilic  days  these  tombs  were  entered  by  holes  in 
the  roofs,  and  the  dead  were  deposited  one  above  the 
other  in  layers  on  the  floor.32  On  the  importance  attached 
to  burial  in  the  family  tomb  see  pp.  238,  245.  With  the 
dead  were  deposited  food  and  drink,  pottery,  lamps, 
implements,  weapons,  ornaments,  amulets,  and  images  of 
various  sorts.33  Many  of  the  articles  were  broken,  the 
idea  being  doubtless  to  liberate  their  spirits  so  that  they 
might  join  the  spirit  of  the  dead. 

h.  The  Sanctity  of  Tombs. — The  Book  of  Genesis 
and  the  other  early  historical  books  record  the  burial 
places  of  the  forefathers  with  the  same  interest  that  they 
show  in  tracing  the  origin  of  the  numerous  holy  springs, 
holy  trees,  holy  mountains,  and  holy  stones.  That  they 
enjoyed  a  similar  sanctity  is  proved  by  numerous  refer- 
ences to  them  as  seats  of  worship.  At  Hebron,  the  burial 
place  of  Sarah  and  Abraham,34  the  chiefs  made  a  cove- 
nant 35  and  Absolom  paid  his  vows.36  It  was  a  "city  of 
refuge"  37  and  a  city  of  the  priests.38  According  to 
Sozomen,39  religious  rites  were  kept  up  here  as  late  as 

28  King,  Babylonian  Religion,  pp.  48ff. ;  Wellhausen,  Reste?  p.  178. 

28 II   Sam.   1:12;   3:35;    12:21;  cf.   Deut.  21:23. 

«°II    Sam.    3:31. 

"Gen.   23:9;   II   Kings   23:16;    Isa.   22:16. 

82  Palestine   Exploration   Fund,    Quarterly    Statement,    1904,   pp.    328ff. 

"Ibid.,   pp.    332-35. 

"Gen.    23:19;    25:9. 

"II   Sam.   5:3. 

18 II  Sam.   15:7,   12. 

"Josh.  20:7. 

"Josh.   21:11. 

"Histor.    eccl.,    II,    4. 


252  SPIRITISM  x 

Christian  times.  The  Haram,  or  'sanctuary,'  that 
covers  the  supposed  cave  of  Machpelah  is  still  one  of  the 
chief  holy  places  of  Islam,  and  Jews  come  thither  from  all 
parts  of  the  world  to  pray  to  Abraham  and  Sarah.  At 
Ramah,  the  burial  place  of  Rachel,40  there  was  a  holy 
stone  upon  her  grave.  On  the  grave  of  Deborah  below 
Bethel  there  stood  a  tree  known  as  Allon-bakhuth,  'the 
holy  tree  of  weeping.'  41  The  burial  place  of  Miriam  was 
Kadesh,  'the  sanctuary.'  42  Shechem,  the  burial-place 
of  Joseph,43  was  the  site  of  a  holy  tree  called  "the  oak  of 
the  oracle,"  or  "the  oak  of  the  diviners,"  44  of  a  holy 
stone,45  of  an  altar  46  and  of  a  temple.47  It  was  also  a  city 
of  refuge.48  Of  similar  character  as  sanctuaries  were 
probably  the  graves  of  the  heroes  Tola,49  Jair,50  Ibzan,51 
Elon,52  and  Abdon.53 

The  Book  of  Kings  records  with  equal  care  the  burial 
places  of  the  kings  of  Judah.  Ezek.  43  17-9  shows  clearly 
that  in  his  day  these  were  seats  of  worship.  The  words 
"whoredom"  and  "abomination"  that  he  applies  to  them 
are  the  ones  that  are  commonly  used  by  the  prophets  for 
the  cult  of  strange  gods.  Isa.  65  :3f.  speaks  also  of 
people  who  provoke  Yahweh  to  his  face  continually, 
"who  dwell  among  the  graves  and  lodge  in  the  vaults." 

The  "uncleanness"  of  graves  in  the  later  Hebrew  re- 
ligion is  additional  proof  that  originally  they  were  places 
of  worship.  Among  ancient  peoples  everything  connected 
with  death  was  "taboo,"  i.e.,  it  could  not  be  touched  with- 

*°Gen.    35:19;   I   Sam.    10:2;   Jer.   31:15. 

41  Gen.    35:8. 

"Num.   20:1. 

"Josh.    24:32. 

"Gen.   12:6;   Deut.   11:30;  Judg.  9:37. 

"Josh.   24:26f. 

"Gen.    12:7;    22:9. 

"Judg.     9:4,     46. 

"Josh.   20:7. 

"Judg.     10:lf. 

""Judg.   10:3-5. 

e'Judg.    12:8-10. 

"Judg.    12:1  If. 

"Judg.    12:13-15. 


x      WORSHIP  OF  THE  DEAD  BY  ISRAEL  253 

out  falling  under  the  influence  of  a  spirit.54  Among  the 
Semites  the  word  for  taboo  was  kddhosh,  which  we  com- 
monly render  "holy."  Into  the  religion  of  Yahweh  many 
ancient  Semitic  taboos  were  taken  up,  and  continued  to 
be  regarded  as  "holy."  Other  taboos  were  felt  to  belong 
to  inferior  spirits  or  to  rival  gods,  and  were  now  pro- 
nounced "unclean."  Thus  foreign  rites  make  Yahweh's 
land  "unclean,"  55  and  alien  worship  makes  the  Temple 
"unclean."  56  Now,  as  we  have  just  seen,  the  graves  of 
the  patriarchs  and  heroes  were  at  first  regarded  as 
"holy,"  and  were  favourite  places  of  sacrifice.  Archae- 
ology shows  that  in  pre-exilic  times  the  dead  were  buried 
without  hesitation  within  the  city  walls  or  even  in 
houses,57  but  in  later  literature  dead  bodies  and  graves 
render  anyone  who  touches  them  ceremonially  "un- 
clean." 58  Bones  of  the  dead  defile  the  altar  of  Yah- 
weh.59 This  change  from  "holy"  to  "unclean"  can  be 
explained  only  as  due  to  a  growing  consciousness  that 
the  ancient  sanctity  of  tombs  was  inconsistent  with  the 
sole  authority  of  Yahweh.  Hence  corpses  and  every- 
thing connected  with  them  were  placed  under  a  ban. 
That  this  is  the  correct  interpretation  of  the  taboo  is 
shown  ( 1 )  by  the  fact  that  it  is  called  "uncleanness  for 
a  spirit"  (nefesh)  ,60  which  shows  that  the  uncleanness 
does  not  come  from  the  corpse  but  from  the  spirit  as- 
sociated with  it;  (2)  by  the  fact  that  priests,  who  are 
specially  connected  with  the  worship  of  Yahweh,  are 
allowed  to  "defile  themselves  for  a  spirit"  only  in  a  few 
exceptional  cases,61  and  that  nazirites  are  not  allowed  to 
defile  themselves  at  all.62 

64  Jevons,   Introduction   to   the   History    of   Religion,   chap.    vi. 

"Jer.    2:7,    23;    3:2,    9;    Ezek.    36:18. 

"Jer.    7:30;    Ezek.    43:7,    9. 

^Palestine  Exploration  Fund,  Quarterly  Statement,  1902,  p.  347.  This  cus- 
tom is  also  attested  by  I  Sam.  25:1;  28:3;  I  Kings  2:10,  34;  11:43;  14:31, 
etc.;    II    Kings   21:18,    26;    Ezek.    43:7f. 

58Deut.    26:14;    Ezek.    43:7f.;    Num.     19:11;     Matt.    23:27. 

"I   Kings   13:2;    II   Kings  23:14,    16,   20. 

s0Lev.    21:1,    11;   22:4;    Num.    5:2;   6:6,    11;    9:6f.,    10;    19:llf.;    Hag.   2:13. 

tl  Lev.  21:1-4,   11. 

"Num.   6:6. 


254  SPIRITISM  x 

i.  Sacrifice  to  the  Dead. — Among  the  Hebrews  the 
persistence  of  sacrifice  to  the  dead  down  to  a  late  time 
is  attested  by  the  confession  in  Deut.  26:14,  "I  have  not 
given  thereof  for  the  dead."  According  to  Josephus,63 
the  tomb  of  David  was  filled  with  treasures;  and  accord- 
ing to  II  Chron.  16:14,  Asa's  tomb  was  filled  with  sweet 
odours  and  spices,  and  they  made  a  very  great  burning  for 
him.  This  was  the  usual  custom  at  the  burial  of  kings.64 
Ps.  106:28  declares  of  the  forefathers,  "They  ate  the 
sacrifices  of  the  dead."  Tob.  4:17  commends  offerings 
to  the  dead:  "Pour  out  thy  bread  on  the  tomb  of  the 
just";  and  similarly  Ecclus.  7:33:  "A  gift  hath  grace  in 
the  sight  of  every  living  man,  so  from  a  dead  man  keep 
not  back  grace."  65  Others  mention  the  cult  of  the  dead 
as  practised  in  their  day,  but  regard  it  as  useless  and 
wicked.66  In  later  Judaism  the  saying  of  the  Kaddish 
by  the  oldest  son  takes  the  place  of  the  ancient  sacrifices.67 

The  existence  of  sacrificial  funeral  feasts  among  the 
Hebrews  is  attested  by  Jer.  16:7:  "Neither  shall  men 
break  bread  for  a  mourner  to  comfort  him  for  the  dead, 
nor  shall  one  give  him  the  cup  of  consolation  to  drink  on 
account  of  his  father  or  his  mother";  also  by  Ezek.  24:17 
(emended  text) ,  "Eat  not  the  bread  of  mourning."  Since 
eating  these  offerings  involved  participation  in  the  wor- 
ship of  another  god  than  Yahweh,  it  rendered  one 
"unclean."  68 

Among  the  Hebrews  the  duty  of  bringing  sacrifices  and 
libations  rested  upon  the  oldest  son.  Hence  the  double 
portion  given  to  the  firstborn.69  Childlessness  was  re- 
garded as  the  greatest  possible  misfortune,70  and  the 
proper  blessing  for  a  bride  was,  "Be  thou  the  mother 

-Ant.,  XIII,  8,  4;  XVI,  7,  1;   War,  I,  2,  5. 
"Jer.    34:5;    II    Chron.    21:19. 
"Cf.    II    Mace.    12:42ff. 

"Ecclus.  30:18   (in  the  Greek);  Ep.  Jer.,  vss.  31f.;  Wisd.   14:15;  19-3;  Sibylline 
Oracles,  viii.  382-384;  Jubilees,  22:17. 

"  Margoliouth,  Hastings,  Encyclopedia  of  Religion  and  Ethics,  I,  459. 

«»  Hos.    9:4;    Deut.    26:14. 

"Deut.    21:15ff. 

70  Gen.    30:1;   I   Sam.    1:5£. 


x      WORSHIP  OF  THE  DEAD  BY  ISRAEL  255 

of  thousands  of  ten  thousands."  71  Yahweh  punished 
men  even  in  the  other  world  by  cutting  off  their  pos- 
terity,72 and  victors  destroyed  an  enemy's  children  in 
order  that  his  ghost  might  receive  no  offerings.  If  a 
man  had  no  sons  by  his  first  wife,  he  took  a  second  wife, 
or  his  wife  gave  him  her  female  slaves  as  concubines.73 
If  these  means  failed,  a  slave,  or  some  person  outside 
of  the  family,  was  adopted  as  a  son,  and  was  given  the 
inheritance  on  condition  that  he  kept  up  the  ancestral 
rites.74  If  this  device  also  failed,  the  nearest  male  rela- 
tive of  the  deceased  was  required  to  take  his  widow  and 
raise  up  seed  for  him.75  This  painful  anxiety  to  secure  a 
son  is  explainable  only  by  the  desire  to  obtain  after  death 
those  gifts  without  which  one's  soul  could  not  rest. 

;'.  Prayer  to  the  Dead. — Among  the  Hebrews  the  la- 
ment was  a  regular  and  important  part  of  the  funeral  cere- 
monies.76 In  it  the  members  of  the  family  were  assisted 
by  professional  mourning  men  and  women.77  These 
people  had  a  stock  of  laments  adapted  to  various  occa- 
sions that  they  chanted  before  the  corpse.  In  the  case 
of  important  persons  special  dirges  were  composed.78 

Some  lamentations  are  doubtless  to  be  regarded  as 
natural  expressions  of  grief,  but  this  will  not  explain 
official  mournings  in  which  the  entire  nation  took  part.79 
The  only  tenable  theory  is  that  such  laments  were  acts 
of  homage  paid  to  the  departed.  This  view  is  confirmed 
by  the  following  facts :  ( 1 )  the  Hebrew  laments,  like 
those  of  the  ancient  Arabs,  were  always  addressed  to  the 
dead;80    (2)    similar   laments    were    customary   in    the 

71  Gen.    24;60. 

"Exod.  20:5;   34:7;   Num.   14:18;   Deut.   5:9. 

73  Gen.    16:lf. 

"Gen.    15:2f. 

78  Gen.  38:16;   Deut.  25:5;  Ruth  2:20;  3:13;  4:5. 

"Gen.  23:2;  Deut.  21:13;  II  Sam.  19:4;  I  Kings  13:30;  II  Kings  13:14; 
Jer.    16:6;    22:10,    18;    34:5;    Ezek.    24:16;    Acts    9:39. 

"II   Chron.  35:25;  Jer.   9:17f.;  Am.   5:16. 

"II    Sam.    1:17;    3:33. 

""E.g.,  Gen.  50:7-10;  Deut.  34:8;  Num.  20:29;  Judg.  11:40;  I  Sam.  25:1; 
28:3;  II  Sam.   1:12;   3:32;  Zech.   12:10-14. 

•°Cf.  II  Sam.    1:26;   3:34;  Jer.   22:18;   34:5. 


256  SPIRITISM  x 

worship  of  the  gods;81  (3)  lamentation,  like  other  acts 
of  mourning,  was  repugnant  to  Yahweh  as  part  of  the 
cult  of  rival  divinities.82  Isa.  63:16,  "Thou  art  our 
father,  though  Abraham  knoweth  us  not,  and  Israel  doth 
not  acknowledge  us,"  seems  to  imply  invocation  of  the 
patriarchs  by  some  at  least  of  the  nation.  This  cult  has 
not  completely  died  out  even  from  modern  Judaism. 

Necromancy  is  a  form  of  invocation  of  the  dead.  It 
was  common  in  the  time  of  Saul,  although  it  was  re- 
garded as  inconsistent  with  the  religion  of  Yahweh.83 
Isaiah  still  had  reason  to  denounce  it:  "When  they  say 
unto  you,  Consult  the  ghosts  and  the  familiar  spirits  that 
gibber  and  moan,  give  this  answer :  Should  not  a  people 
rather  consult  its  God?  On  behalf  of  the  living,  should 
men  consult  the  dead?"  84  This  practice  flourished 
in  the  time  of  Manasseh,85  and  Josiah  made  an  effort 
to  abolish  it.86  It  seems  to  be  mentioned  also  in  Isa. 
57:9;  65:4.  The  prohibition  of  necromancy  by  Deuter- 
onomy 87  and  by  the  Holiness  Code  88  shows  that  it  was 
common  in  the  latter  days  of  the  monarchy,  but  that  it 
was  regarded  by  the  religious  leaders  of  the  nation  as  irre- 
concilable with  the  exclusive  worship  of  Yahweh. 

From  the  foregoing  survey  it  appears  that  the  earliest 
Hebrew  beliefs  in  regard  to  the  soul  were  identical  with 
those  of  the  other  Semites,  and  that  the  cult  of  the  dead 
was  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  most  firmly  intrenched 
forms  of  religion  among  the  Hebrews,  The  religion  of 
Yahweh  encountered  no  more  formidable  rival,  and  cen- 
turies of  conflict  were  necessary  before  it  was  finally  over- 
come. 

81  Cf.  Judg.   11:40  with  Ezek.  8:14;  Zech.    12:11. 

82  Deut.     26:14;     Hos.    9:4;    Am.     6:10. 

83  I    Sam.    28:7-9. 

"Isa.    8:19;    cf.    19:3;    28:15,    18;    29:4. 
86  II    Kings    21 :6. 

86  II   Kings  23:24. 

87  Deut.   18:11. 

88  Lev.    19:31;   20:6,   27. 


CHAPTER  XI 

EARLY  OPPOSITION  TO  WORSHIP  OF  THE  DEAD  BY  ISRAEL 

In  chapter  VIII  attention  was  called  to  the  conception  of 
the  soul  which  the  Hebrews  inherited  from  their  Semitic 
forefathers.  In  chapter  IX  it  was  shown  how,  through 
the  conquest  of  Canaan,  the  Babylonian  doctrine  of  Sheol 
was  superimposed  upon  the  ancient  belief  in  spirits.  We 
must  now  consider  how  this  inheritance  of  animistic  ideas 
from  pre-Mosaic  times  was  affected  by  the  religion  of 
Yahweh. 

a.  The  Primitive  Conception  of  Spirits  Was  Unaffected 
by  Early  Yahwism. — The  Mosaic  doctrine  of  God  was 
not  monotheism  but  monolatry.  It  did  not  say,  "Thou 
shalt  not  believe  that  there  are  other  gods/'  but  "Thou 
shalt  have  no  other  gods  besides  me."  The  god  of 
Moses  bore  the  personal  name  Yahweh,  which  shows 
that  he  was  only  one  of  a  class  of  supernatural  beings. 
All  the  divinities  of  primitive  Semitic  heathenism  were 
still  regarded  as  real  persons,  only  Israel  was  forbidden 
to  worship  them.1  In  the  same  way  belief  in  the  exist- 
ence of  spirits  of  the  dead  was  left  undisturbed  by  the 
religion  of  Yahweh.  All  the  animistic  conceptions  held  by 
the  primitive  Semites  in  common  with  other  ancient  peo- 
ples were  incorporated  bodily  into  the  Hebrew  religion, 
and  remained  unchanged  down  to  the  times  of  the  proph- 
ets. Mosaism  had  no  new  eschatology  of  the  individual; 
it  simply  accepted  the  ideas  that  it  found  on  the  ground. 
For  this  reason  there  is  nothing  new  in  the  pre-prophetic 
period  to  add  to  the  account  of  the  earliest  Hebrew  con- 

•Cf.    Exod.    15:11;   Judg.    11:24;   I    Kings    11:33;    II   Kings   l:2f.;   3:27;    Deut 
4:19;    29:26;    32:8    in   the   Greek. 

257 


258  SPIRITISM  xi 

ceptions  of  the  soul  that  has  been  given  in  the  preceding 
chapters. 

b.  The  Worship  of  Spirits  Was  from  the  First  Forbid- 
den by  Yahweh. — The  God  whom  Moses  proclaimed  did 
not  deny  the  existence  of  other  gods,  but  he  did  deny  their 
right  to  receive  the  worship  of  Israel.  The  command- 
ment "Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  besides  me,"  which 
the  Deuteronomic  Decalogue  2  places  at  the  head  of  Yah- 
weh's  fundamental  requirements,  stands  also  at  the  head 
of  the  original  Book  of  the  Covenant,  which  has  been 
preserved  by  J  in  Exod.  34:14  and  by  E  in  Exod.  21 123. 
It  is  universally  conceded  that  this  was  one  of  the  doc- 
trines of  primitive  Mosaism.  In  like  manner,  although 
Yahweh  did  not  deny  the  existence  of  spirits  of  the  dead, 
worship  of  them  in  any  form  whatsoever  he  sternly  pro- 
hibited. By  the  ancient  Hebrews  the  shades  were  known 
as  elohim,  'gods,'  3  and  received  all  the  acts  of  homage 
that  were  paid  to  other  divinities;4  consequently  they 
were  included  in  the  general  prohibition  of  the  worship  of 
other  gods  that  lay  at  the  foundation  of  the  Mosaic  relig- 
ion. Yahweh  was  "a  jealous  God,"  who  would  not  tolerate 
the  cult  of  ancestors,  heroes,  or  other  spirits,  any  more 
than  he  would  tolerate  the  cult  of  the  nature  gods,  tribal 
gods,  or  any  of  the  other  be'dlim  of  the  Semitic  world. 

With  the  first  proclamation  of  Yahweh  the  doom  of 
ancestor-worship  was  sealed;  but,  as  was  to  be  expected,  a 
long  conflict  was  necessary  before  it  was  finally  eradicated 
from  Israel.  This  form  of  religion  was  firmly  established 
among  the  Hebrews  in  pre-Mosaic  times,  and  the  conquest 
of  Canaan  tended  only  to  confirm  it.  As  the  Book  of 
Judges  and  the  early  prophets  repeatedly  inform  us, 
"Israel  served  the  be'dlim}"  and  among  thestf  be<dlim  were 
the  ancestors  and  heroes  who  from  time  immemorial  had 
been  worshipped  in  Canaan. 

Gradually,  however,  the  true  genius  of  the  Mosaic 

"Deut.    5:7;    Exod.    20:3. 
•I   Sam.   28:13. 
«  See  p.  254ff. 


xi  EARLY  OPPOSITION  259 

religion  asserted  itself.  Through  the  efforts  of  the 
nazirites,  Levites,  judges,  seers,  and  other  religious 
enthusiasts,  Yahweh  finally  triumphed  over  spirits  of 
the  dead  as  well  as  over  the  other  be'dlim.  By  the  be- 
ginning of  the  period  of  the  monarchy  his  victory  was 
complete;  the  local  divinities  were  no  longer  worshipped 
by  the  majority  of  the  nation,  and  the  supreme  authority 
of  Yahweh  was  recognized  in  all  parts  of  the  land.  From 
I  Sam.  28  19  it  appears  that  Saul,  who  owed  his  throne  to 
the  choice  of  Yahweh,5  and  who  had  himself  received  the 
spirit  of  Yahweh,6  made  an  effort  to  exterminate  those 
who  had  familiar  spirits  and  necromancers;  and  was  so 
successful  that,  when,  toward  the  close  of  his  reign,  he 
wished  to  consult  a  medium,  he  had  difficulty  in  finding 
one.  The  fact  that  this  medium  was  a  woman  shows 
that  invocation  of  the  dead  was  already  discredited  in 
Israel.  Dying  superstitions  usually  linger  among  women 
after  they  have  been  abandoned  by  men.  The  command- 
ment of  the  Book  of  the  Covenant,  "Thou  shalt  not  suffer 
a  sorceress  to  live,"  7  is  also  directed  against  necromantic 
arts;  and,  if  the  text  be  sound,  shows  that  these  survived 
chiefly  among  women.  The  protestation  of  the  bringer 
of  the  tithe  in  Deut.  26:14,  "I  have  not  given  thereof  for 
the  dead,"  is  probably  a  fragment  of  a  liturgy  that  is  far 
older  than  Deuteronomy,  and  the  prohibitions  of 
necromancy  in  Deut.  18:11  and  the  Holiness  Code8  are 
also  survivals  of  ancient  legislation.  It  was,  therefore, 
no  new  doctrine  that  Isaiah  taught:  "When  they  say 
unto  you  consult  the  ghosts  and  the  familiar  spirits  that 
gibber  and  moan,  give  this  answer:  Should  not  a  people 
rather  consult  its  God?  On  behalf  of  the  living, 
should  men  consult  the  dead?"  9 
c.      Yahweh  Appropriated  the  Functions  of  the  Dead. 

•I  Sam.   10:1. 

•I   Sam.   10:10;   19:23. 

TExod.    22:18. 

•Lev.  19:31;  20:6,  27. 

•Isa.    8:19. 


260  SPIRITISM  xi 

— The  method  by  which  Yahweh  triumphed  over  the 
be'dlim  of  Canaan  was  not  by  destroying  them  but  by 
absorbing  them.  The  name  ba'al  became  a  synonym  of 
Yahweh,  and  the  be'alim  were  regarded  as  his  local  mani- 
festations. The  ancient  shrines  of  the  land  became  his 
shrines,  and  the  legends  connected  with  them  were  retold 
as  stories  of  his  dealings  with  the  patriarchs.  The 
agricultural  ritual  and  the  harvest  festivals  of  the  be'dlim 
were  reconsecrated  to  his  service.10 

The  same  process  is  seen  in  Yahweh's  relation  to  spirits 
of  the  dead.  He  conquered  them  by  assuming  their 
functions  and  claiming  their  rites.  Oracular  indication 
through  physical  objects  became  his  work  in  the  sacred 
lot  of  Urim  and  Thummim.11  Disease  and  insanity  were 
now  ascribed  to  his  activity.12  Genius  and  inspiration  of 
every  sort  were  traced  to  the  operation  of  his  spirit.13 
The  revealing  of  the  future  through  prophets  became  his 
exclusive  prerogative.  It  was  only  when  he  refused  to 
answer  Saul  by  dreams,  or  by  Urim,  or  by  prophets,  that 
Saul  was  constrained  to  seek  the  help  of  inferior  spirits. 
The  avenging  of  shed  blood  was  now  assumed  by  him.14 
Violation  of  tombs  was  an  affront  to  him.15  Care  for 
the  widow  and  orphaned  children  became  his  responsi- 
bility.16 The  fulfilment  of  a  father's  blessing  or  curse 
became  his  concern.17 

d.  Yahweh  Appropriated  the  Cult  of  the  Dead. — 
The  shrines  of  Canaan  that  had  formerly  been  consecrated 
to  the  cult  of  the  dead  were  now,  like  the  high  places  of 
all  the  other  be'alim,  appropriated  by  Yahweh.  The 
tombs  of  Sarah  and  Abraham,  of  Israel,  of  Rachel,  of 
Deborah,  of  Joseph,  of  Miriam,  and  of  numerous  local 

10  See  Paton,  The  Early  Religion  of  Israel,   (1910),  chap.  v. 

11  I    Sam.    14:41;    28:6;    Deut.    33:8. 

"Num.    12:10;   I   Sam.   16:14;  25:38;   I  Kings   17:20. 

^Exod.   28:3;   31:3;    Num.   27:18;   Judg.    6:34;    11:29;    13:25;    14:6,    19;    15:14; 
I.    Sam.    11:6. 

"Gen.    4:llff.;   II    Sam.    21:lf.;    Deut.    21:1-9. 

"Amos  2:1. 

18Exod.    20:6;    22:22. 

"Gen.    9:25-27;    27:27-29,    39-40;    49:2-27. 


xi  EARLY  OPPOSITION  261 

heroes,  became  his  sanctuaries,  and  their  holiness  was 
now  explained  as  due,  not  to  the  fact  that  the  forefathers 
were  buried  there,  but  that  they  had  been  the  scenes  of 
his  manifestation  in  the  past.  Far  from  being  "unclean" 
in  early  times  graves  were  places  of  peculiar  sanctity, 
near  which  it  was  most  fitting  that  Yahweh  should  be 
worshipped.  Caves  owed  their  holiness  to  the  fact  that 
they  were  used  as  places  of  burial,18  and  it  is  noteworthy 
that  the  original  sanctuary  of  Yahweh  at  Sinai  was  a 
cave.19  The  dark  holy  of  holies  of  Solomon's  temple, 
with  its  anteroom,  in  which  a  lamp  was  kept  burning  and 
bread  and  incense  were  offered,  was  the  counterpart  of 
an  ancient  Canaanite  tomb.  The  holy  trees,  standing 
stones,  and  altars  that  stood  beside  the  graves  of  ances- 
tors were  all  reconsecrated  to  the  worship  of  Yahweh.20 
Sacrifice  is  a  rite  that  has  meaning  only  in  the  cult  of 
the  dead.  The  blood,  in  which  the  life  of  the  animal 
resides,  is  poured  out  in  order  that  the  shades  may  drink 
of  it  and  renew  their  vigour.  Offerings  of  food  and  drink 
are  not  needed  by  celestial  deities,  but  are  needed  by 
spirits  of  the  dead,  and  have  been  offered  to  them  from 
the  earliest  times.  It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  bloody 
offerings  and  libations  first  arose  in  connection  with  ances- 
tor-worship, and  were  afterward  extended  to  the  cult  of 
other  divinities  with  whom  they  had  no  natural  connec- 
tion. Their  primitive  association  with  the  dead  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  the  blood  of  the  victim  was  always  poured 
upon  the  earth,  so  that  it  might  sink  down  to  the  Under- 
world. In  many  ancient  tombs  channels  were  con- 
structed through  which  blood  and  libations  descended  to 
the  buried  person.  In  like  manner  the  old  Arabian  altar 
had  a  ghabghab,  or  pit,  beneath  it  into  which  blood  was 
poured  and  offerings  were  thrown.  All  such  sacrifices 
and  libations  for  the  dead  were  appropriated  by  Yahweh. 

18  Cf.    Gen.    23:9. 

18Exod.    33:22;    I    Kings    19:8f. 

*>Gen.   12:6f.;   22:9;   35:8,   20;   Deut.   11:30;  Josh.   24:26f.;   Judg.  9:4,  37,  46. 


262  SPIRITISM  xi 

The  blood  of  the  slain  animal  was  still  poured  upon 
the  ground,21  although  it  was  no  longer  offered  to  the 
gods  of  the  Underworld.  Beneath  the  altar  of  Solomon's 
temple  was  a  channel  cut  out  in  the  rock  to  receive  the 
blood,  and  Elijah  dug  a  trench  for  the  blood  around  the 
altar  that  he  constructed  on  Carmel;  yet  the  sacrifices  in 
both  of  these  cases  were  rendered  to  Yahweh.  The  ritual 
of  the  red  heifer  in  Num.,  chap.  19,  bears  clear  evidence 
of  having  been  borrowed  from  the  cult  of  the  dead.22 
The  same  is  true  perhaps  of  the  goat  for  Azazel,23  and 
of  a  number  of  other  sacrificial  rites  that  have  found  a 
place  in  the  official  religion  of  post-exilic  Judaism.  From 
this  it  appears  that  everything  that  was  clearly  connected 
with  the  worship  of  the  dead  was  already  in  the  pre- 
prophetic  period  claimed  by  Yahweh  as  his  due. 

e.  Rites  of  the  Dead  That  Were  not  Clearly  Acts  of 
Worship  Were  Still  Permitted,  but  They  Rendered  One 
Unclean. — Burial,  and  such  customs  as  tearing  off  the  gar- 
ments, girding  on  sackcloth,  covering  the  head,  making 
cuttings  in  the  flesh,  cutting  the  hair,  covering  oneself 
with  dust  or  ashes,  lamentation  and  fasting  24  had  lost 
much  of  their  primitive  religious  significance  as  early  as 
the  pre-prophetic  period,  and  seemed  to  be  merely  acts 
of  mourning;  consequently  these  were  tolerated  by  the 
early  Hebrew  religion,  and  no  effort  was  made  to  take 
them  away  from  the  dead.  At  the  same  time  it  was 
felt  that  these  ceremonies  were  in  a  way  connected  with 
"other  gods,"  and  therefore  rendered  one  "unclean," 
i.  e.}  debarred  one  from  taking  part  in  the  public  worship 
of  Yahweh.  Hosea,  speaking  of  the  exiles  in  Egypt 
and  in  Assyria,  says:  "Their  sacrifices  shall  be  unto 
them  as  the  bread  of  mourners;  all  that  eat  thereof  shall 
be  polluted,"  25  and  Amos  (6:10)  says  that  it  is  not  per- 

"Exod.    29:12;    Lev.    4:7,    18;    17:13;    Deut.    12:16. 

"  H.  P.   Smith,  in  American  Journal  of  Theology,  April,   1909. 

"Lev.     16:26. 

"  See  pp.  248ff. 

"Hos.    9:4. 


xi  EARLY  OPPOSITION  263 

mitted  to  make  mention  of  the  name  of  Yahweh  when 
bringing  a  corpse  out  of  a  house.  In  Deut.  26:14  the 
bringer  of  the  tithe  says:  "I  have  not  eaten  thereof  in 
my  mourning,  neither  have  I  put  away  thereof  being  un- 
clean, nor  given  thereof  for  the  dead."  That  these  rites 
rendered  one  "unclean"  on  account  of  their  association 
with  the  cult  of  the  dead,  is  evident  from  the  technical 
expression  of  the  Law  "unclean  for  a  spirit."  2<?  In  these 
cases  early  Yahwism  made  a  compromise  with  ancestor- 
worship  that  it  would  not  make  in  the  case  of  necromancy 
and  sacrifice  to  the  dead. 

It  appears,  accordingly,  that  the  pre-prophetic  religion 
of  Israel  did  not  change  the  primitive  Semitic  concep- 
tions of  the  future  life;  yet  in  its  attack  upon  ancestor- 
worship  it  prepared  the  way  for  the  prophetic  denial  of 
the  intelligence  and  power  of  the  dead,  through  which 
eventually  ancient  animistic  conceptions  were  destroyed. 

/.  Sheol  Stood  Outside  of  the  Authority  of  Yahweh. 
— The  recognition  that  there  were  other  gods  of  other 
peoples  led  naturally  to  the  belief  that  foreign  lands 
stood  outside  of  Yahweh's  sphere  of  influence,  and  that 
his  activity  was  limited  for  the  most  part  to  the  land 
of  Canaan.27  In  a  similar  manner  Sheol  was  regarded 
as  lying  outside  of  his  rule.  It  was  a  foreign  land, 
presided  over  by  its  own  gods,  the  spirits  of  the  dead, 
and  over  its  border  Yahweh  never  passed  to  exert  his 
authority.  In  the  creation  narrative  of  J  it  is  not  men- 
tioned along  with  "earth  and  heaven"  as  created  by 
Yahweh.28  Even  in  the  late  Priestly  account 29  it  is 
omitted  from  the  works  of  Elohim,  and  the  same  is  true 
of  II  Esdras  6:iff.  Nowhere  in  the  Old  Testament  is 
Yahweh's  creation  of  Sheol  referred  to,  and  Wis.  1  113 
asserts,  "God  made  not  death"  (cf.  2:24).  Not  until 
the  Middle  Ages  did  the  Jewish  rabbis  infer  from  the 

"Lev.   21:1,   11;  22:4;   Num.   5:2,   etc. 

17  Cf.  Gen.  4:14;  I  Sam.  26:19f.;  II  Sam.   15:8;  II  Kings  5:15,   17. 

"  Gen.  2 :4b  ff . 

"Gen.    1:1— 2:4a. 


264  SPIRITISM  xi 

lack  of  the  formula,  "and  God  saw  that  it  was  good," 
in  Gen.  i  :6-8,  that  Sheol  was  created  on  the  second  day.30 
Yahweh  was  conceived  as  dwelling  in  heaven,31  whence 
he  came  down  to  exert  his  authority  on  earth,  but  never 
once  in  pre-prophetic  literature  is  he  said  to  descend  into 
Sheol,  or  in  any  way  to  show  his  power  there. 

Since  Yahweh  was  powerless  either  to  bless  or  to  curse 
in  Sheol,  worship  of  him  ceased  of  necessity  when  one 
entered  that  land.  The  later  literature  repeatedly  as- 
serts that  he  cannot  be  served  there,  and  this  is  undoubt- 
edly an  echo  of  earlier  thought.  Thus  Ps.  6  15  declares, 
"In  death  there  is  no  remembrance  of  thee;  in  Sheol  who 
shall  give  thee  thanks";  Isa.  38  :i 8f .,  "Sheol  cannot 
praise  thee,  Death  cannot  celebrate  thee.  .  .  .  The  liv- 
ing, the  living,  he  shall  praise  thee,  as  I  do  this  day." 

So  long  as  Sheol  stood  outside  of  Yahweh's  jurisdic- 
tion, no  radical  change  could  arise  in  Israel's  concep- 
tion of  the  future  life.  The  primitive  Semitic  and  the 
Babylonian  eschatologies  held  their  own  without  inter- 
ference until  the  time  when  Yahweh  was  known  to  be 
the  universal  God,  whose  authority  extended  to  Sheol 
as  well  as  to  all  other  parts  of  the  universe.  Then  at 
last  these  venerable  beliefs  began  to  give  place  to  a 
worthier  idea  of  the  future  life. 

Because  of  this  total  lack  of  religious  or  ethical  ele- 
ments in  the  conception  of  Sheol,  the  ancient  Hebrew 
dreaded  the  future  life  as  much  as  did  all  the  other 
Semites.  Death  seemed  to  him  wholly  evil.  His  one 
desire  was  that  he  might  live  long  in  the  land,  enjoy  peace 
and  prosperity,  and  have  numerous  descendants.  His 
hope  never  extended  into  the  other  world.  Even  in  late 
times  death  was  regarded  as  exclusion  from  the  presence 
and  the  care  of  Yahweh.32 

g.     Retribution  Was  Limited  to  the  Present  Life. — 

80  Eisenmenger,   Entdecktes  Judenthutn,   II,    326. 
"Gen.   11:5;  Exod.  24:10;   I   Kings  22:19. 
"  Isa.    38:18;    Ps.    115:16f.;    6:Sf.;    30:10. 


xi  EARLY  OPPOSITION  265 

Yahweh's  rewards  of  the  righteous  and  his  punishments 
of  the  wicked  were  limited  to  this  life.  To  those  who 
kept  his  commandments  he  promised  that  their  days 
should  be  long  upon  the  land  which  Yahweh  their  God 
gave  them,33  that  their  bread  and  their  water  should  be 
blessed,  and  sickness  should  be  kept  away  from  them,  that 
none  should  cast  their  young  or  be  barren,  that  all  their 
enemies  should  be  defeated  before  them,  and  their  border 
should  be  widely  extended.34  Those  who  broke  his  com- 
mandments were  punished  with  sudden  death,35  with  loss 
of  children  and  property,  with  sickness,  misfortune,  and 
invasion  by  enemies.36  Nowhere  in  pre-exilic  literature 
is  any  reward  of  virtue  or  any  punishment  of  sin  antic- 
ipated in  Sheol.  The  righteous  Hezekiah  is  represented 
as  saying,  "I  shall  go  unto  the  gates  of  Sheol.  ...  I 
shall  not  see  Yahweh  in  the  land  of  the  living.  .  .  .  They 
that  go  down  into  the  Pit  cannot  hope  for  thy  faithful- 
ness" ; 37  and  Ps.  88  :4f.  says:  "I  am  counted  with  them 
that  go  down  into  the  Pit,  I  am  as  a  man  that  hath  no 
help :  cast  off  among  the  dead,  like  the  slain  that  lie  in  the 
grave,  whom  thou  rememberest  no  more,  and  they  are  cut 
off  from  thy  hand."  Both  of  these  passages  are  probably 
late,  still  they  preserve  the  thought  of  the  early  Hebrew 
religion. 

h.  Collective  Retribution — In  lack  of  a  belief  in  fu- 
ture rewards  and  punishments  the  justice  of  Yahweh  was 
vindicated  by  means  of  the  theory  of  collective  retribu- 
tion. The  penalty  of  the  sinful  father,  which  he  escaped 
by  dying,  was  visited  upon  his  living  descendants.  The 
early  Hebrews  brought  into  Canaan  as  an  inheritance 
from  primitive  Semitic  times  a  strong  sense  of  the  soli- 
darity of  the  family  and  of  the  clan.  Tribes  were  spoken 
of  in  the  singular,  as  Israel,  Moab,  Ammon,  and  the  iden- 

"Exod.    20:12. 

"Exod.    23:25-31. 

88  Gen.    38:7ff.;   I   Sam.   6:19ff.;   25:39;    II    Sam.    6:6ff. 

"Gen.   44:16;   Judg.    9:56£.;   II   Sam.    16:8. 

87Isa.    38:10f.,    18. 


266  SPIRITISM  xi 

tity  of  the  individual  was  lost  in  the  group.  The  logical 
corollary  of  this  conception  was  the  assumption  of  collec- 
tive responsibility  for  the  sins  of  individuals.  Saul  sought 
to  kill  David's  relatives  on  his  account,38  and  annihilated 
the  clan  of  Ahimelech  the  priest  because  he  had  be- 
friended David.39  David  proposed  to  cut  off  the 
entire  family  of  Nabal  because  of  the  insolence  of  the 
head  of  the  house.40  The  seven  sons  of  Saul  were 
hanged  because  of  his  attack  on  the  Gibeonites.41  The 
sons  of  Naboth  were  slain  with  him.42 

It  seemed  eminently  natural,  accordingly,  that  Yahweh 
should  deal  with  the  group  rather  than  the  individual, 
and  should  bring  the  punishment  of  the  sinner,  or  the 
reward  of  the  righteous,  upon  his  family,  his  clan,  or 
his  nation,  rather  than  upon  himself.  Yahweh  "visited 
the  penalty  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children,  upon  the 
third  and  upon  the  fourth  generation  of  them  that  hated 
him."  43  The  Canaanites  were  enslaved  because  of  the 
guilt  of  their  remote  ancestor.44  Pharaoh  and  his  house 
were  plagued  because  he  had  taken  Sarah.45  The  wombs 
of  the  house  of  Abimelech  were  closed  for  the  same 
offence.46  The  firstborn  of  Egypt  were  smitten  for  the 
sin  of  Pharaoh.47  Amalek  was  destroyed  because  its 
forefathers  attacked  Israel.48  Dathan  and  Abiram  were 
engulfed  with  their  wives,  their  sons,  and  their  little 
ones.49  Achan  was  slain  with  his  sons  and  his  daughters, 
his  oxen  and  his  asses,  his  sheep  and  all  that  he  had.50 
The  sin  of  Eli  was  visited  upon  his  descendants.51     The 

38 1     Sam.     22:1,     3f. 

38  I   Sam.   22:16. 

40 1    Sam.    25:22. 

"II    Sam.   21:6ff. 

«II    Kings    9:26. 

"Exod.    20:5. 

"  Gen.    9 :24f . 

"Gen.  12:17  J. 

"Gen.  20:18  E. 

«7Exod.   12:29  J. 

"Exod.    17:16;    I    Sam.    15:2f. 

"Num.  16:27ff  JE. 

80  Josh.     7:24    J. 

"I  Sam.  2:31. 


xi  EARLY  OPPOSITION  267 

blood  of  Abner  fell  upon  the  father's  house  of  Joab.52 
David's  child  was  killed  and  the  sword  never  departed 
from  his  house  because  of  his  sin.53  Solomon  was  told, 
"I  will  surely  rend  the  kingdom  from  thee.  .  .  .  Not- 
withstanding in  thy  days  I  will  not  do  it,  for  David  thy 
father's  sake;  but  I  will  rend  it  out  of  the  hand  of  thy 
son."  54  The  house  of  Jeroboam  was  cursed  for  the  sin 
of  its  founder,55  so  also  that  of  Baasha,56  and  of  Ahab.57 
In  an  indirect  way  the  blessing  or  cursing  of  descendants 
reacted  upon  forefathers  because  it  affected  the  cult  that 
was  paid  to  their  spirits.  If  children  were  cut  off,  the 
spirit  was  deprived  of  the  offerings  that  were  necessary 
for  its  repose.  Only  in  this  round-about  manner  did  the 
vengeance  of  Yahweh  reach  the  sinner  in  Sheol. 

"II   Sam.  3:29. 

"II    Sam.    12:10,    14f. 

"I    Kings    11:111 

85  I   Kings    14:10. 

"I  Kings  16:3. 

87 1  Kings  21:21.     See  Lohr,  Socialismus  u.  Individualismus  im  A.  T. 


CHAPTER  XII 

PROPHETIC  AND  LEGAL  DENIAL  OF  THE  VITALITY  OF 
SPIRITS 

In  the  period  of  the  prophets  we  possess  for  the  first 
time  contemporary  written  records.  In  the  previous 
periods  we  have  been  compelled  to  reconstruct  the  con- 
ception of  the  future  life  by  comparison  of  survivals  in 
Israel  with  the  phenomena  of  other  Semitic  religions,  but 
from  the  eighth  century  B.C.  onward  we  have  as  historical 
sources  books  that  were  written  by  the  prophets  them- 
selves and  law-codes  that  were  inspired  by  their  teaching. 
The  writings  of  these  great  men  in  chronological  order  are 
as  follows: — Amos  (760  B.C.),  Hosea  (750),  Isaiah, 
chapters  1-32  (740-700),  Micah  (722-680),  Jeremiah 
(624-586),  Nahum  (606),  Habakkuk  (605),  Ezekiel 
(592-570),  Obadiah  (after  586),  Isaiah,  chapters  40-55 
(546). 

The  legislation  of  Deuteronomy  was  written  out  about 
650  B.C.  in  the  reign  of  Manasseh,  and  makes  its  first 
appearance  in  history  in  the  book  of  the  law  discovered 
in  the  time  of  Josiah  (II  Kings,  22  :8)  and  adopted  in  the 
national  assembly  described  in  II  Kings,  23.  It  shows 
throughout  the  influence  of  the  teaching  of  the  prophets 
of  the  foregoing  Assyrian  period.  The  Holiness  Code 
in  Lev.  17-26  was  committed  to  writing  about  600  B.C., 
shortly  before  the  Exile,  and  is  first  quoted  by  the  Pro- 
phet Ezekiel.  It  depends  both  upon  the  prophets  of 
the  Assyrian  period  and  upon  Deuteronomy. 

During  this  period  Israel  stood  under  the  rule,  first 
of  Assyria,  and  then  of  Babylon,  and  was  consequently 
exposed  to  the  influence  of  the  Assyro-Babylonian  civiliza- 

268 


xii  VITALITY  OF  SPIRITS  DENIED        269 

tion.  This  may  have  strengthened  the  old  Babylonian 
beliefs  concerning  Sheol  that  had  come  to  the  Hebrews  in 
an  earlier  period,  but  it  brought  no  new  elements  into 
their  conception  of  the  future  life.  All  that  was  new  in 
the  thought  of  this  period  was  due  to  the  teaching  of  the 
prophets. 

The  literary  prophets  from  Amos  onward  differed 
from  their  predecessors  chiefly  in  the  emphasis  that  they 
laid  upon  the  moral  character  of  Yahweh.  The  earlier 
seers  knew  that  Yahweh  had  ethical  attributes,  but  they 
did  not  make  these  fundamental  in  their  conception  of  him. 
The  literary  prophets,  however,  perceived  that  righteous- 
ness was  Yahweh's  central  attribute.  From  this  it  fol- 
lowed that  he  was  different  in  kind  from  the  gods  of 
other  nations,  who  were  destitute  of  moral  qualities.  The 
gods  of  the  heathen,  being  unethical,  were  no  gods 
at  all.  Instead  of  being  elohim,  'powers,'  they  were 
elilim,  'feeble  ones,'  or,  as  our  version  renders  it,  'vani- 
ties.' Yahweh  was  the  only  God,  because  he  alone  was 
holy.  Thus  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Israel, 
theoretical  monotheism  was  attained,  not  as  among  other 
peoples  by  the  avenue  of  philosophical  reflection,  but  by 
the  avenue  of  the  moral  judgment.  This  new  and  higher 
conception  of  the  nature  of  Yahweh  could  not  fail  to 
modify  the  ancient  conception  of  the  future  life. 

a.  The  Activity  of  the  Dead  W as  Denied. — The  same 
process  by  which  the  "other  gods"  were  degraded  from 
mighty  beings,  the  rivals  of  Yahweh,  to  "feeble  ones" 
is  seen  in  the  case  of  spirits  of  the  dead.  In  pre-prophetic 
days  they  were  believed  to  possess  such  large  powers  that 
the  temptation  was  strong  to  render  them  some  of  the 
worship  due  to  Yahweh  alone;  in  the  prophetic  period 
they  were  stripped  of  their  energy  so  completely  that  they 
became  mere  shadows,  unable  to  help  or  to  hurt,  to  whom 
it  was  futile  either  to  pray  or  to  offer  sacrifice. 

This  development  shows  itself  conspicuously  in  the 
prophetic  denial  of  the  independent  vitality  of  the  human 


27o  SPIRITISM  xn 

soul.  In  Semitic  and  early  Hebrew  anthropology  nefesh 
and  ruah  were  synonymous  terms  for  'spirit' ;  in  pro- 
phetic anthropology  ruah  was  distinguished  from  nefesh 
as  the  vital  principle  and  the  seat  of  the  higher  faculties. 
It  was  imparted  by  God  to  the  nefesh  during  life,  but  re- 
claimed by  him  at  death.  The  germ  of  this  idea  is  found 
in  the  Yahwistic  narrative  of  Gen.  2:7,  where  Yahweh 
breathes  into  man's  nostrils  the  breath  of  life  and  he  be- 
comes "a  living  nefesh,"  but  the  thought  is  not  developed 
in  Hebrew  literature  until  after  the  Exile.  Thus  in  Isa. 
42  :5  we  read,  "He  giveth  breath  to  the  people  upon  it, 
and  spirit  to  them  that  walk  therein"  ;  Ps.  104:29^,  "Thou 
gatherest  in  their  breath,  they  die,  and  return  to  their 
dust:  thou  sendest  forth  thy  spirit,  they  are  created"; 
Job  27:3,  "My  life  is  yet  whole  in  me,  and  the  spirit  of 
God  is  in  my  nostrils";  32:8,  "There  is  a  spirit  in  man, 
and  the  breath  of  Shaddai  giveth  them  understanding"; 
33  :4,  "The  spirit  of  God  hath  made  me,  and  the  breath  of 
Shaddai  giveth  me  life";  34:14,  "If  he  gather  unto  him- 
self his  spirit  and  his  breath,  all  flesh  shall  perish  to- 
gether"; Eccles.  12:7,  "The  dust  returns  to  the  earth 
as  it  was,  and  the  spirit  returns  to  God  who  gave  it." 
In  these  passages  the  vitality  of  the  human  soul  depends 
so  completely  upon  the  indwelling  spirit  of  God,  that  ac- 
tivity ceases  when  the  divine  breath  is  withdrawn.  All 
individual  ruhoth  are  absorbed  in  the  one  ruah  of 
Yahweh,  and  all  that  is  left  of  a  man  after  death  is  a 
nefesh,  or  'breath,'  from  which  knowledge  and  feeling 
have  departed.  Thus  the  religion  of  the  prophets  cut 
the  root  of  ancestor-worship  by  denying  the  conscious 
existence  of  the  dead. 

In  striking  contrast  to  the  ancient  doctrine  which  as- 
cribed interest  in  the  living  and  superhuman  powers  to  the 
dead,  the  late  prophetic  and  subsequent  literature 
denies  all  activity  to  them.  Abaddon,  'destruction,'  be- 
comes one  of  the  names  of  Sheol.1     In  Isa.  38:11,  if  the 

»Job   26:6;    Vs.    88:11;    Prov.    15:11;    27:20. 


xii  VITALITY  OF  SPIRITS  DENIED         271 

text  be  sound,  it  is  called  hedel,  'cessation.'  In  Ps. 
88:12  it  is  "the  land  of  forgetfulness."  Ezekiel  26:21 
says  of  Tyre,  when  she  goes  down  to  Sheol,  "I  will  make 
thee  a  destruction,  and  thou  shalt  be  no  more:  thou 
shalt  be  sought  for,  yet  thou  shalt  never  be  found  again" ; 
Isa  63:16,  "Thou  art  our  father,  though  Abraham 
knoweth  us  not,  and  Israel  doth  not  acknowledge  us"; 
Job  7:9-11,  "As  the  cloud  is  consumed  and  vanisheth 
away,  so  he  that  goeth  down  to  Sheol  shall  come  up  no 
more";  Job  14:21,  "His  sons  come  to  honour,  and  he 
knoweth  it  not;  and  they  are  brought  low,  but  he  per- 
ceiveth  it  not  of  them";  Job  17:15^,  "Where  then  is  my 
hope?  and  as  for  my  hope,  who  shall  see  it?  It  shall  go 
down  to  the  bars  of  Sheol,  when  once  there  is  rest  in  the 
dust";  Ps.  94:17,  "Unless  Yahweh  had  been  my  help, 
my  soul  had  soon  dwelt  in  silence";  Eccles.  9:5^,  10, 
"The  living  know  that  they  shall  die,  but  the  dead  know 
not  anything,  neither  have  they  any  more  a  reward,  for 
the  memory  of  them  is  forgotten.  As  well  their  love  as 
their  hatred  and  their  envy  is  now  perished,  neither  have 
they  any  more  a  portion  for  ever  in  anything  that  is  done 
under  the  sun.  .  .  .  For  there  is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor 
knowledge,  nor  wisdom  in  Sheol,  whither  thou  goest"; 
Ecclus.  30:i8f.,  "Good  things  poured  upon  a  mouth  that 
is  closed,  are  as  messes  of  meat  laid  upon  a  grave. 
What  can  an  offering  profit  a  shade,  for  it  can 
neither  eat  nor  smell";  38:20-23,  "Give  not  thy  heart 
unto  sorrow  .  .  .  him  thou  wilt  not  profit,  and  thou 
wilt  hurt  thyself.  .  .  .  When  the  dead  is  at  rest,  let  his 
remembrance  rest,  and  be  comforted  for  him  when  his 
spirit  departeth  from  him."  Most  of  these  passages  are 
later  than  the  period  that  we  are  considering,  but  they 
preserve  the  negative  attitude  of  prophetism  toward  the 
existence  in  Sheol. 

The  old  belief  that  the  dead  could  not  worship  Yahweh 
persisted  in  this  period,  but  for  a  different  reason.  In 
pre-prophetic  times  Yahweh  could  not  be  honoured  in 


272  SPIRITISM  xii 

Sheol  because  his  authority  did  not  extend  thither,  but 
in  prophetic  times  it  was  because  the  dead  had  not  suffi- 
cient energy  to  worship.  Thus  Ps:88:ii,  "Shall  thy 
loving-kindness  be  declared  in  the  grave,  or  thy  faithful- 
ness in  Abaddon?  Shall  thy  wonders  be  known  in  the 
dark?  and  thy  righteousness  in  the  land  of  forgetful- 
ness?"  Ps.  115  :i7,  "The  dead  praise  not  Yahweh,  neither 
any  that  go  down  into  silence";  Ecclus.  17:27,  "Who 
shall  give  praise  to  the  Most  High  in  the  grave,  instead 
of  them  which  live  and  return  thanks?  Thanksgiving 
perisheth  from  the  dead,  as  from  one  that  is  not:  he 
that  is  in  life  and  health  shall  praise  the  Lord";  Bar. 
2:17,  "The  dead  that  are  in  the  grave,  whose  spirit  is 
taken  from  their  bodies,  will  give  unto  the  Lord  neither 
glory  nor  righteousness." 

These  statements  must  not  be  taken  as  an  assertion 
of  the  annihilation  of  the  soul  at  death.  Disembodied 
spirits  continued  to  exist,  but  their  existence  was  empty 
of  content.  It  was  form  without  substance.  Hence  it  is 
frequently  compared  to  the  feeble  life  of  the  soul  in 
sleep.  It  is  "the  eternal  sleep."2  "Till  the  heavens  be 
no  more,  they  shall  not  awake  or  be  roused  out  of  their 
sleep"  ;3  "They  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth."  4  "Sleep" 
in  these  passages  is  not  understood  of  the  body  in  the 
grave,  but  of  the  unconscious,  emotionless  existence  of 
the  shades  in  Sheol. 

The  foregoing  discussion  has  made  it  clear  that  the  at- 
titude of  the  religion  of  Yahweh  to  the  eschatology  of 
the  individual,  from  the  days  of  Moses  to  the  completion 
of  the  law  in  the  post-exilic  Priestly  Code,  was  essentially 
negative.  Spirits  of  the  dead,  like  "strange  gods,"  were 
at  first  dangerous  rivals  of  Yahweh,  and  his  adherents 
laboured  for  their  destruction.  In  this  process  the  dead 
were  deprived  of  one  attribute  after  another,  until  at  the 
end  of  the  prophetic-legal  development  they  had  become 

*Jer.    51:39,    57;    Ecclus.    46:19f. 
'Job   14:12. 
*Dan.    12:2. 


xii  VITALITY  OF  SPIRITS  DENIED         273 

powerless  shadows,  whose  existence  was  destitute  of  every 
element  that  constituted  life.  Thus  the  victory  over 
necrolatry  was  won,  but  at  the  cost  of  the  extinction  of 
even  a  rudimentary  belief  in  immortality.  Primitive 
Semitic  animism  had  nothing  in  common  with  Yahwism, 
and  it  was  necessary  that  it  should  perish  before  the  struc- 
ture of  a  better  faith  could  arise. 

b.  Rites  of  Ancestor-worship  Were  Eliminated  from 
the  IV  or  ship  of  Yahweh. — The  literary  prophets  saw 
clearly  that  Yahweh  had  triumphed  over  the  be<dlim  by 
appropriating  their  cults,  and  that  the  result  had  been 
that  in  the  popular  conception  Yahweh  was  no  better 
than  a  ba'al.5  In  their  effort  to  purify  the  conception  of 
God  they  insisted  that  heathen  elements  should  be  purged 
out  of  the  religion  of  Israel.  This  movement  culminated 
in  the  demand  of  Deuteronomy  that  the  high  places,  which 
originally  had  been  seats  of  the  worship  of  the  be<dlim, 
should  be  abolished.  These  included  the  graves  that  in 
pre-prophetic  times  had  been  transformed  into  sanctuaries 
of  Yahweh.  Henceforth  they  were  forbidden  as  places 
of  worship.6  This  prohibition  was  intensified  by  the 
doctrine  that  graves  were  "unclean,"  and  that  they  "de- 
filed" one  who  came  in  contact  with  them.7  In  like  man- 
ner the  masseboth,  or  'standing  stones'  upon  graves, 
that  had  been  appropriated  to  the  service  of  Yahweh  in 
the  earlier  religion,  were  repudiated  by  the  religion  of 
the  prophets.8 

c.  Rites  of  Mourning  for  the  Dead  Were  Restricted. 
— The  leaders  of  Hebrew  thought  felt  instinctively  that 
mourning  for  the  dead,  though  not  distinctly  worship, 
was  nevertheless  closely  allied  to  it;  accordingly  they 
bent  their  efforts  to  abolish  this  as  far  as  possible.  The 
process  was  a  gradual  one,  that  first  came  to  clear  ex- 
pression in  the  Law,  and  that  was  never  carried  through 

6Hos.    2:16. 
"Dent.    12:1-14,   etc. 
7Ezck.    43:7f.;    Num.    19:11. 
8Deut.    16:22. 


274  SPIRITISM  xii 

completely.  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel  still  regard  shaving 
the  head  and  making  cuttings  in  the  flesh  as  permissible,0 
but  Deut.  14:1  and  the  Holiness  Code10  prohibit  both 
of  these  customs.  The  prophet,  who  stood  in  a  peculiarly 
intimate  relation  with  Yahweh,  was  forbidden  to  parti- 
cipate in  mourning.11  In  like  manner  the  priest  was  for- 
bidden to  "defile  himself  for  a  spirit,"  except  in  the  case 
of  his  nearest  kin;12  and  the  high  priest  was  forbidden  to 
"defile  himself"  under  any  circumstances.13  The  nazirite 
also  was  forbidden  to  come  near  a  dead  body.14  In  gen- 
eral, however,  the  primitive  Semitic  rites  of  mourning 
were  too  firmly  intrenched  to  be  dislodged  by  the  Law, 
and  most  of  them  remained  unchanged  in  later  Judaism. 
d.  Yahweh's  Power  Extended  to  Sheol. — With  the 
recognition  of  the  prophets  that  Yahweh  was  the  only 
God,  because  he  alone  was  righteous,  went  the  belief  that 
he  was  not  limited  to  the  land  of  Israel,  but  that  the 
whole  world  stood  under  his  rule.15  In  like  manner 
Sheol  was  now  believed  to  be  included  in  his  realm. 
"Though  they  dig  into  Sheol,  thence  shall  mine  hand 
take  them,"  says  the  Lord  by  his  prophet.16  The  demons 
of  Sheol  obey  the  command  of  Yahweh.17  To  the  un- 
believing Ahaz  Isaiah  says,  "Ask  thee  a  sign  from 
Yahweh,  thy  God,  going  deep  unto  Sheol."18  The  wrath 
of  Yahweh  reaches  even  unto  the  lowest  Sheol;19  his 
knowledge  is  deeper  than  Sheol;  20  "The  shades  tremble 
beneath  the  waters  and  the  inhabitants  thereof.  Sheol 
is  naked  before  him,  and  Abaddon  hath  no  covering";21 

•Jer.  16:6;  Ezek.  7:18. 

30  Lev.    19:27f.;    21:5. 

"Jer.   16:5;   Ezek.  24:17. 

11  Lev.  21:lf. 

"  Lev.   21:10f. 

"Num.    6:6£. 

"Ci.  Amos   1:3—2:3;   9:7. 

"Amos   9:2. 

17Hos.  13:14. 

"Isa.    7:11. 

"Deut.    32:22. 

•ojob  11:8. 

"Job  26:5f. 


xii  VITALITY  OF  SPIRITS  DENIED        275 

Yahweh  knows  the  recesses  of  the  deep  and  the  gates  of 
death  have  been  revealed  unto  him;22  "If  I  make  my  bed 
in  Sheol,  behold  thou  art  there";23  "Sheol  and  Abaddon 
are  before  Yahweh."  24 

When  Yahweh's  power  was  thus  extended  to  Sheol, 
it  would  seem  as  if  the  shades  might  have  enjoyed  fellow- 
ship with  him,  and  as  if  there  might  have  been  the  begin- 
ning of  a  higher  doctrine  of  immortalty;  but  this  exten- 
sion of  God's  power  came  too  late.  In  the  struggle 
against  ancestor-worship  the  shades  had  been  stripped 
so  completely  of  their  powers  that,  although  Yahweh 
was  now  present  among  them,  his  presence  did  not  help. 
They  could  not  know  him,  and  could  not  rejoice  in  his 
loving-kindness.  Yahweh's  power  over  Sheol  also  made 
it  theoretically  possible  that  he  could  deliver  souls  from 
that  dark  abode,  and  bring  them  back  to  life;  but  this 
doctrine  never  appears  in  the  period  that  we  are  con- 
sidering. The  statement  that  "Yahweh  killeth  and 
maketh  alive"  25  refers  not  to  resurrection  but  to  recovery 
from  dangerous  illness,  and  the  three  raisings  of  the  dead 
that  are  recorded  in  pre-exilic  times  are  properly  regarded 
as  cases  of  suspended  animation. 

e.  Retribution  Was  Limited  to  the  Present  Life. — 
Like  the  pre-prophetic  literature,  the  Prophets  and  the 
Law  never  promise  rewards  or  punishments  in  the  other 
world.  This  is  not  because  Yahweh  is  unable  to  bestow 
them,  but  because  the  dead  are  unable  to  receive  them. 
In  their  zeal  to  destroy  the  last  vestiges  of  ancestor- 
worship,  these  writings  go  so  far  in  their  denial  of  life  in 
Sheol  that  it  becomes  impossible  for  them  to  develop  any 
doctrine  of  future  retribution.  Thus  the  paradox  is  ex- 
plained that  the  prophetic  religion,  which  was  pre-emi- 
nently a  religion  of  hope,  had  no  hope  of  immortality. 
Over  the  gate  of  Sheol,  as  the  prophets  conceived  it,  might 

"Job  38:16f. 

*»  Ps.   139:8. 

2*Prov.    15:11. 

»I  Sam.  2:6;  II  Kings  5:7;  Deut.  32:39, 


276  SPIRITISM  xii 

have  been  written  the  words  that  Dante  saw  written 
over  the  entrance  to  Hell,  "Lasciate  ogni  speranza  voi 
che'ntrate." 

/.  Collective  Retribution. — The  prophets  held  the 
same  conception  as  the  earlier  religion  that  rewards  and 
punishments  due  a  man  were  allotted  to  his  relatives  and 
descendants.  Amos  announced  as  the  punishment  of 
Amaziah,  "Thy  wife  shall  be  a  harlot  in  the  city,  and 
thy  sons  and  thy  daughters  shall  fall  by  the  sword."  26 
These  prophets  always  asserted  that  the  penalty  due  the 
ruling  classes  should  fall  upon  the  nation  as  a  whole.27 
In  like  manner  the  rewards  of  virtue  accrued  to  the  family 
of  the  righteous. 

g.  Ezekiel's  Theory  of  Individual  Retribution  in  the 
Present  Life. — Ezekiel  agreed  with  the  prophets  that 
preceded  him  that  there  was  no  activity  of  the  dead  in 
Sheol,  and  that  all  rewards  and  punishments  were  allotted 
men  by  Yahweh  in  the  present  life;  but  he  differed  from 
his  predecessors  in  the  matter  of  collective  retribution. 
Instead  of  the  doctrine  that  the  penalty  of  the  parents  is 
visited  upon  the  children,  he  affirmed,  "The  soul  that 
sinneth  it  shall  die,"  and  entered  into  an  elaborate  argu- 
ment to  prove  that  every  man  received  before  death 
the  appropriate  reward  of  his  deeds.28 

This  modification  of  the  old  prophetic  doctrine  was 
necessitated  by  the  growth  in  Israel  of  a  new  sense  of 
the  worth  of  the  individual.  In  the  period  of  the  later 
monarchy  the  old  tribal  organization  began  to  break  up, 
and  during  the  Babylonian  Exile  it  disappeared  almost 
entirely.  The  religious  experience  of  the  prophets  fos- 
tered individualism,  and  this  left  its  mark  in  the  legisla- 
tion of  Deuteronomy  and  the  Holiness  Code  which  recog- 
nize new  rights  of  wives,  children,  and  slaves  over  against 
the  head  of  the  house,  and  which  prohibit  the  punishment 
of  children  for  the  crimes  of  fathers,  or  of  fathers  for 

"Amos   7:17. 

17  Cf.  Amos  8:8;  Hos.  3:4;  Isa.   5:25-30;  Mic.  3:12. 

"Ezek.     18:4-32;     9:3-6;     14:12-20. 


xii  VITALITY  OF  SPIRITS  DENIED        277 

the  crimes  of  children.29  This  new  consciousness  of 
the  dignity  of  the  individual  human  being  found  noble 
expression  in  the  words  of  the  Lord  proclaimed  by 
Ezekiel,  "Behold  all  souls  are  mine;  as  the  soul  of  the 
father,  so  also  the  soul  of  the  son  is  mine,"  30  and  in 
the  prediction  of  Jeremiah  that  in  the  Messianic  age 
Yahweh  would  write  his  instruction  in  the  heart  of  each 
individual,  so  that  all  should  know  him  from  the  least 
unto  the  greatest.31 

This  new  conception  of  the  value  of  the  individual 
made  belief  in  the  ancient  theory  of  collective  retribution 
impossible.  Punishment  of  the  nation  for  the  sins  of  its 
rulers,  or  of  children  for  the  sins  of  their  parents,  no 
longer  seemed  consistent  with  the  righteousness  of 
Yahweh.  Both  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel  found  the  proverb 
current  among  the  people,  "The  fathers  have  eaten  sour 
grapes,  and  the  children's  teeth  are  blunted,"  that  is  to 
say,  "We  are  suffering  unjustly  the  penalty  of  our  ances- 
tors' sins."  32  It  was  to  meet  this  objection  that  Ezekiel 
formulated  his  doctrine  of  a  complete  rewarding  or  pun- 
ishing of  each  individual  in  the  present  life  that  necessi- 
tated no  entail  of  guilt  upon  coming  generations. 

This  became  the  orthodox  doctrine  of  the  Zadokites, 
or  Sadducees,  the  priestly  aristocracy  that  claimed  descent 
from  Aaron  through  Zadok,  the  chief  priest  of  Solomon's 
temple,33  and  that  monopolized  priestly  functions  in  the 
temple  of  Zerubbabel.34  Ezekiel  himself  belonged  to 
this  priesthood.  In  the  New  Testament  the  Sadducees 
appear  as  deniers  that  there  is  any  conscious  existence  of 
the  soul  after  death,  and  also  as  deniers  of  the  Pharisaic 
doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  spirit  to  a  new  life  on 
earth  in  the  body;  "for  the  Sadducees  say  that  there  is  no 

"Deut.   24:lf.;    15:12;  23:15f.;   12:31;    18:10;  Lev.  25:42;   18:21. 

*>Ezek.    18:4. 

8IJer.    31:31-34. 

S2Jer.    31:29;    Ezek.    18:2. 

88  I   Kings  2:35  b. 

"Ezek.  44:15-16;  P  in  Ex.  30:32f.;  Num.  4:17,  20. 


278  SPIRITISM  xii 

resurrection,  neither  angel  nor  spirit."  35  They  preserved 
in  a  petrified  form  the  doctrines  of  the  Law  and  of  the 
Prophets,  that  death  was  eternal  sleep,  and  that  all  retri- 
bution came  to  men  in  the  present  life;  with  Ezekiel's 
modification,  that  each  man  received  his  own,  and  not 
some  other  man's  recompense. 

This  doctrine  of  the  Sadducees  was  followed  by  most 
of  the  post-exilic  Jewish  literature.  It  appears  in  the 
Psalter,36  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs,37  in  the  arguments 
of  the  three  friends  against  Job,38  and  in  Ecclesiastes.39 
Ecclesiasticus,40  Tobit,  and  i  Maccabees  occupy  the  same 
position.  It  is  the  orthodox  doctrine  of  Judaism  so  far 
as  the  Canonical  Scriptures  are  concerned,  for  it  is  the 
doctrine  of  the  Law,  of  the  Prophets,  and  of  most  of 
the  Writings. 

In  spite  of  its  popularity,  Ezekiel's  theory  of  indi- 
vidual retribution  in  the  present  life  was  open  to  for- 
midable objections.  In  the  first  place,  experience  taught 
that  there  was  truth  in  the  old  theory  of  collective  retri- 
bution. Children  did  suffer  the  consequences  of  their 
parents'  sins.  In  the  second  place,  it  was  contrary  to 
experience  that  every  man  received  in  the  present  life  the 
just  recompense  of  his  deeds.  It  was  only  too  obvious 
that  sinners  frequently  flourished  and  lived  to  a  ripe  old 
age,  while  the  righteous  suffered,  and  were  cut  off  pre- 
maturely. In  the  third  place^  Ezekiel's  theory  necessi- 
tated the  assumption  that  happiness  is  the  measure  of 
goodness.  If  a  man  suffered  all  his  life,  he  must  be  a 
great  sinner.  This  was  the  logic  of  Job's  friends.  In 
view  of  his  unparalleled  misfortunes,  they  could  only 
conclude  that  he  was  the  chief  of  sinners.41  Job  knew 
that  this  was  not  true,  and  yet  he  suffered.     Consequently, 

35  Mark    12:18-27;    Acts   23:8. 

48  Ps.    34:19ff.;   37:25,  28;   80:10;    145:20,   etc. 

87  Prov.    3:33;    11:31. 

"Job   4:8;    8:20;    11:20. 

"Eccles.  2:14f.;  3:21;  8:10;  9:2,  5f.,  10;  12:5. 

«°Ecclus.     ll:26f.;    17:27;    30:17. 

"Job    4:7;    8:3ff.;    11:3-6. 


xii  VITALITY  OF  SPIRITS  DENIED        279 

he  was  forced  to  give  up  Ezekiel's  theory  of  individual 
retribution  in  the  present  life.42  Other  thinkers  felt  the 
same  difficulty,  and  the  old  doctrine  that  the  sins  of  the 
fathers  were  visited  upon  the  children  maintained  itself 
in  Jewish  thought  even  down  to  New  Testament  times.43 
The  prophetic  period  thus  ended  in  negation  of  the 
ancient  beliefs  in  regard  to  the  soul  and  in  regard  to 
retribution.  The  Prophets  and  the  Law  denied  the  con- 
scious existence  of  the  soul  after  death,  and  Ezekiel  and 
his  successors  denied  collective  rewards  and  punishments, 
but  were  unable  to  establish  their  theory  of  individual 
rewards  and  punishments  in  the  present  life.  The  ancient 
faith  in  ghost  life  and  in  tribal  solidarity  was  gone,  and 
there  was  nothing  to  put  in  its  place.  In  the  next  period 
we  shall  see  how,  after  the  ground  had  been  cleared  of 
primitive  Semitic  animistic  conceptions  of  the  future  life 
and  primitive  Semitic  ideas  of  the  unity  of  the  clan,  new 
doctrines  of  immortality  arose  that  were  based  upon 
the  righteousness  of  Yahweh  and  the  need  for  its  vindi- 
cation in  another  world,  and  that  were  suggested  by 
contact,  first  with  Persian  and  then  with  Greek  thought. 

"Job   9:22-25;    10:3;    12:4-6;    16:11-17;    19:6-21;    21:7-34;    27:2. 
"Job   5:4;    17:5;   20:10;   27:14f.;    Ps.    109:9-15;    Dan.   9:7-16;   Tob.   3:3;   Judith 
7:28;   Bar.   1:15-21;  2:26;  3-8;   Matt.  23:35. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

NEW  THEORIES  OF  IMMORTALITY  IN  POST-EXILIC  JUDAISM 

a.  Persian  Influence  in  the  Doctrine  of  Resurrection 
of  the  Body. — From  536  to  333  B.C.  the  Jews  stood  un- 
der the  rule  of  the  Persian  empire,  and  their  religion  was 
subjected  to  the  influence  of  Persian  thought.  The  doc- 
trine of  the  Satan,  or  "the  Accuser,"  Greek  Diabolos, 
English  Devil,  first  appears  in  the  post-exilic  Books  of 
Zechariah,  Job,  and  Chronicles,1  and  is  almost  certainly 
a  reflex  of  the  Persian  Zoroastrian  doctrine  of  Angro- 
mainyu,  or  Ahriman,  the  Evil  One,  the  antithesis  of 
Ahura-mazda,  or  Ormazd,  the  Good  God.  The  post- 
exilic  doctrine  of  angels  also  probably  shows  Persian 
influence.  In  pre-exilic  literature  the  "angel  of  Yahweh" 
is  the  local  appearance-form  of  Yahweh  himself,  and  has 
no  personal  name.  In  post-exilic  literature  orders  of 
angels  are  recognized  distinct  from  Yahweh,  and  they 
bear  personal  names  such  as  Gabriel,  Michael,  Raphael, 
Uriel.2  This  also  is  closely  similar  to  the  teaching  of 
the  Avesta.  In  like  manner  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body,  which  first  appears  in  the  Book  of  Job, 
is  probably  suggested  by  Persian  eschatology,  where  this 
doctrine  is  highly  developed. 

As  we  have  seen  before,  there  is  no  evidence  for  the 
existence  of  a  doctrine  of  resurrection  among  the  Baby- 
lonians or  among  the  pre-exilic  Hebrews.3  The  three 
cases  of  re-animation  recorded  in  pre-exilic  literature, 
Elijah's  raising  of  the  widow's  son,  Elisha's  raising  of 

^ech.  3:lf.;  Job.  1:6-12;  2:1-7;  I  Chr.  21:1. 
»Dan.   20:21;    10:13. 
»  See  pp.  22 If.,  246f. 

380 


xin    NEW  THEORIES  OF  IMMORTALITY    281 

the  Shunammite  boy,  and  the  raising  of  a  dead  man 
through  contact  with  the  bones  of  Elisha,  are  all  appar- 
ently instances  of  re-awakening  rather  than  recalling  from 
real  death.  The  bodies  had  not  been  buried,  and  dissolu- 
tion had  not  set  in,  so  that  these  cannot  properly  be  classed 
under  the  head  of  resurrection.  There  was  nothing, 
therefore,  in  pre-exilic  literature  to  suggest  the  hope  of 
resurrection  to  the  author  of  Job.  On  the  other  hand, 
he  lived  toward  the  end  of  the  Persian  period,  and  was 
certainly  influenced  by  Persian  thought  in  other  respects, 
so  that  there  is  no  difficulty  in  thinking  that  he  borrowed 
this  doctrine  also  from  Persian  sources.  The  pre-exilic 
prophets  had  taught  the  lifelessness  of  Sheol,  but  also 
the  perfect  righteousness  of  Yahweh  and  his  almighty 
power  that  extended  even  to  Sheol.  It  was  easy  to 
correlate  the  Zoroastrian  doctrine  of  resurrection  with 
these  prophetic  doctrines  by  holding  that  Yahweh's  right- 
eousness and  almighty  power  showed  themselves  by  de- 
livering men  from  the  "eternal  sleep"  of  Sheol  through 
restoring  them  to  life  on  earth  in  the  body.  The  foreign 
doctrine  of  resurrection  thus  came  as  a  welcome  aid  in 
solving  the  problem  of  retribution  which  had  been  left 
unsolved  by  the  prophets. 

While  Job  was  struggling  with  the  mystery  of  his 
terrible  sufferings,  loss  of  wealth,  loss  of  children,  and 
loss  of  health,  and  was  unable  to  find  any  explanation  for 
these  either  as  the  punishment  of  the  sins  of  his  ancestors, 
or  as  punishment  for  his  own  sins;  and  was  tempted  to 
deny  that  an  all-wise,  all-powerful,  and  all-righteous  God 
ruled  the  world;  the  question  suddenly  flashed  into  his 
mind,  Was  it  not  possible  that  a  vindication  of  his  in- 
nocence might  come  after  death?  That  could  not  be  in 
Sheol,  since  there  conscious  existence  ceased,  but  might 
not  God  bring  him  back  to  life  again,  so  that  on  earth  and 
in  the  flesh  he  should  receive  the  reward  of  virtue  ?  The 
cut-down  tree  revives.  May  not  man  also  awaken  from 
the  sleep  of  death? 


282  SPIRITISM  xm 

"There  is  hope  for  a  tree,  if  it  be  cut  down,  that  it  will  sprout 
again, 
And  that  the  tender  branch  thereof  will  not  cease. 
Though  the  root  thereof  wax  old  in  the  earth, 
And  the  stock  thereof  die  in  the  ground; 
Yet  through  the  scent  of  water  it  will  bud, 
And  put  forth  boughs  like  a  plant"  (Job  14:7-9). 

At  first  the  poet  rejects  the  thought  of  resurrection  as 
inconceivable. 

"But  a  man  dieth,  and  is  prostrate, 
And  a  mortal  expireth,  and  where  is  he? 
As  the  water  vanisheth  from  the  sea, 
And  as  the  river  drieth  up  and  is  arid, 
So  man  lieth  down,  and  doth  not  arise: 
Till  the  heavens  be  no  more,  they  shall  not  awake, 
Nor  be  roused  out  of  their  sleep"  (14:10-12). 

But  the  new  hope  that  has  risen  within  him  still  asserts 
itself. 

"O  that  thou  wouldest  hide  me  in  Sheol, 
That   thou   wouldest  conceal   me  until   thy  wrath  should   turn 

away, 
That  thou  wouldest  appoint  me  a  set  time  and  remember  me. 
If  a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again? 
All  the  days  of  my  enlistment  would  I  wait, 
Till  my  discharge  should  come, 
Till  thou  shouldest  call,  and  I  should  answer  thee, 
Till  thou  shouldest  long  for  the  work  of  thy  hands"  (14:13-15). 

The  hope  here  expressed  does  not  mount  to  the  height 
of  assertion,  and  the  theme  is  not  pursued  farther  at  this 
point;  but  in  19:25-27  Job  again  returns  to  it,  and  this 
time  states  as  a  conviction  what  before  had  been  only  a 
vague  longing. 

"But  I  know  that  my  avenger  liveth, 
And  one  who  shall  survive  after  I  am  dust; 
And   that   another  shall   arise   as  my  witness, 
And  that  he  shall  set  up  his  mark. 
From  my  flesh  shall   I  see  God, 
Whom  I  shall  see  for  myself, 
And  mine  eyes  shall  behold,  and  no  stranger."  * 

*  Translated  from  the  text  as  revised  by  Duhm  on  the  basis  of  the  Septuagint. 


xiii    NEW  THEORIES  OF  IMMORTALITY    283 

This  cannot  refer,  as  many  commentators  have  sup- 
posed, to  a  vision  of  God  in  the  other  world,  for  Job 
has  asserted  too  often  his  conviction  that  there  is  no 
knowledge  in  Sheol  (Job  7  :g ;  1 4 :2 1 ;  1 7  : 1 5 f . ) .  It  must 
be  interpreted  in  the  light  of  the  hope  that  struggles  to 
expression  in  14:7-15,  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a 
return  from  Sheol  to  the  life  upon  earth.  "From  my 
flesh,"  accordingly,  cannot  mean  "disembodied,"  but  must 
mean  "re-embodied."  The  vindication  of  a  disembodied 
spirit  would  be  at  variance  with  the  whole  development 
of  Old  Testament  thought  up  to  this  point. 

An  apocalypse  of  the  late  Persian  period  that  has  been 
incorporated  with  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah,  Isa.,  chaps. 
24-27,  extends  the  hope  of  an  individual  resurrection  ex- 
pressed by  Job  to  all  the  righteous  of  Israel:  "Thy  dead 
shall  arise;  the  inhabitants  of  the  dust  shall  awake,  and 
shout  for  joy;  for  a  dew  of  lights  is  thy  dew,  and  to  life 
shall  the  earth  bring  the  shades."  5  On  the  other  hand, 
the  wicked  shall  remain  in  the  dreamless  sleep  of  Sheol : 
"They  shall  be  swept  together  as  prisoners  into  a  pit, 
and  led  down  to  be  confined  in  a  dungeon;  thus  after  many 
days  they  will  be  punished."  "The  (wicked)  dead  will 
not  live  again,  their  shades  will  not  rise;  to  that  end  thou 
didst  punish  them,  thou  didst  destroy  them,  and  cause  all 
memory  of  them  to  perish."  6  Here  Sheol  appears,  not  as 
the  common  fate  of  all  men,  as  in  the  pre-exilic  period,  but 
only  as  the  punishment  of  the  wicked;  while  the  reward 
of  the  righteous  is  that  they  escape  from  Sheol,  and 
participate  in  the  kingdom  of  the  restored  Israel. 

A  further  extension  of  the  doctrine  of  resurrection  is 
seen  in  Daniel  (165-164  B.C.)  :  "And  many  that  sleep 
in  the  land  of  dust  shall  awake,  some  to  everlasting  life, 
and  some  to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt."  7  Here 
both  the  conspicuously  good  and  the  conspicuously  bad 

'Isa.    26:19,   according   to    the   amended   text   of   Duhm   and    Cheyne. 
8  Isa.    24:22;    26:14. 
7  Dan.    12:2f. 


284  SPIRITISM  xm 

are  raised  again,  in  order  that  in  the  flesh  they  may  re- 
ceive the  just  recompense  of  their  deeds  in  their  former 
lives. 

The  expectation  of  resurrection  is  extended  by  later 
writings  to  all  the  dead.  Thus  in  II  Esd.  4:41  we  read: 
"In  the  grave  the  chambers  of  souls  are  like  the  womb; 
for  like  as  a  woman  that  travaileth  maketh  haste  to 
escape  the  anguish  of  the  travail,  even  so  do  these  places 
haste  to  deliver  those  things  that  are  committed  unto 
them  from  the  beginning";  7:32:  "The  earth  shall  re- 
store those  that  are  asleep  in  her,  and  so  shall  the  dust 
those  that  dwell  therein  in  silence,  and  the  chambers  shall 
deliver  those  souls  that  were  committed  unto  them"; 
Enoch  51:1:  "In  those  days  shall  the  earth  give  back 
those  that  are  gathered  in  her,  and  Sheol  shall  restore 
those  it  has  received,  and  Abaddon  shall  render  up 
what  has  been  intrusted  to  it"  ;  Apoc.  Bar.  2 1  =23  :  "May 
Sheol  be  sealed  up  henceforth,  that  it  receive  no  more 
dead;  and  may  the  chambers  of  souls  restore  those  that 
are  shut  up  in  them." 

This  general  resurrection  of  all  men,  to  receive  the 
judgment  of  the  last  day,  became  the  doctrine  of  the 
Pharisees  and  of  the  Talmud.  In  Acts  23  :6ff.  we  are  told 
that  "when  Paul  perceived  that  the  one  part  were  Sad- 
ducees  and  the  other  Pharisees,  he  cried  out  in  the  council, 
Brethren,  I  am  a  Pharisee,  a  son  of  Pharisees:  touching 
the  hope  and  resurrection  of  the  dead  I  am  called  in 
question.  And  when  he  had  so  said,  there  arose  a  dis- 
sension between  the  Pharisees  and  the  Sadducees;  and 
the  assembly  was  divided.  For  the  Sadducees  say  that 
there  is  no  resurrection,  neither  angel  nor  spirit;  but  the 
Pharisees  confess  both."  So  also  in  John  1 1  :24  Martha 
voices  the  correct  Pharisaic  teaching  when  she  says  of 
her  brother,  "I  know  that  he  shall  rise  again  in  the  resur- 
rection at  the  last  day."  This  doctrine  of  resurrection 
agrees  with  the  Prophets,  the  Law,  and  the  Sadducees 
in  denying  that  there  is  any  life  of  the  spirit  apart  from 


xiii    NEW  THEORIES  OF  IMMORTALITY    285 

the  body.  It  is  not  belief  in  immortality  in  any  proper 
sense  of  the  word,  but  is  belief  in  resumption  of  the 
present  physical  life  on  earth.  It  is  more  akin  to  primi- 
tive theories  of  re-incarnation  and  transmigration  of 
souls  than  it  is  to  philosophical  or  religious  conceptions 
of  the  intrinsic  indestructibility  of  spirits.  It  exalts  the 
righteousness  of  God,  but  it  is  a  lower  doctrine  of  spirits 
than  primitive  animism.8 

b.  Greek  Influence  in  the  Doctrine  of  Incorporeal 
Immortality. — From  Alexander's  conquest  in  333  B.C. 
down  to  the  founding  of  the  Maccabean  kingdom  in  165 
B.C.  the  Jews  stood  under  Greek  rule  and  were  in  close 
contact  with  Greek  civilization.  In  Palestine,  and  par- 
ticularly in  Egypt,  they  accepted  many  Greek  philosophic 
ideas,  and  sought  to  combine  them  with  the  faith  of  their 
fathers.  This  was  particularly  true  of  conceptions  of 
the  soul.  The  magnificent  heritage  of  Greek  thought  on 
the  subject  of  immortality,  which  has  been  discussed  in 
a  previous  chapter,9  was  well  known  to  Jewish  thinkers 
in  Alexandria,  and  was  more  or  less  familiar  to  the 
rabbis  in  Palestine.  The  Book  of  Wisdom,  which  stands 
sixth  in  our  English  Apocrypha,  is  a  product  of  Alexan- 
drian Hellenism,  and  teaches  a  purely  Platonic  doctrine 
of  the  inherent  divinity  and  immortality  of  the  soul.  In 
Wisd.  2  123-3  :6  we  meet  the  finest  expression  of  faith 
in  immortality  that  occurs  in  all  pre-Christian  literature: 

"God  created  man  for  incorruption, 
And  made  him  an  image  of  his  own  proper  being; 
But  by  the  envy  of  the  Devil  death  entered  into  the  world, 
And  they  that  are  of  his  portion  make  trial  thereof. 
But  the  souls  of  the  righteous  are  in  the  hand  of  God, 
And  no  torment  shall  touch  them. 
In  the  eyes  of  the  foolish  they  seemed  to  have  died; 
And  their  departure  was  accounted  to  be  their  hurt, 
And  their  journeying  away  from  us  to  be  their  ruin; 
But  they  are  in  peace. 

»  See  pp.  26,  98ft. 
•  See  pp.  99-101. 


286  SPIRITISM  xm 

For  even  if  in  the  sight  of  men  they  be  punished, 

Their  hope  is  full  of  immortality; 

And  having  borne  a  little  chastening,  they  shall  receive  great 

good; 
Because  God  made  trial  of  them,  and  found  them  worthy  of 

himself." 

Here  we  meet  the  Platonic  ideas,  that  man  is  a  spark 
from  the  divine  fire,  that  birth  is  a  fall  from  a  higher 
existence,  that  the  body  is  the  prison  of  the  soul,  that 
death  is  a  release  from  .prison,  and  that  the  souls 
of  the  righteous  pass  to  an  immediate  reward.10  The 
same  theology  is  taught  in  IV  Maccabees,11  where  the 
patriarchs  and  saints  are  not  in  Sheol,  but  dwell  with 
God,  and  are  joined  at  death  by  the  righteous,  particu- 
larly by  martyrs  for  the  faith.  A  similar  doctrine  was 
held  by  Philo  of  Alexandria  and  by  the  Essenes  in  Pales- 
tine, according  to  the  testimony  of  Josephus.12  On  this 
theory  resurrection  was  unnecessary,  since  the  body  was 
evil,  and  at  death  the  soul  at  once  entered  upon  a  higher 
spiritual  life. 

It  is  possible  that  the  Platonic  doctrine  of  inherent 
immortality  is  taught  by  a  few  psalms  of  the  late  Greek 
period,  where  it  is  said  that  God  does  not  permit  his 
righteous  ones  to  see  Sheol,  or  that  he  delivers  them 
from  Sheol;  13  but  it  is  probable  in  all  these  cases  that 
deliverance  from  Sheol  does  not  mean  keeping  one  from 
going  to  Sheol  after  death,  but  keeping  one  from  dying.14 
In  this  case  the  Platonic  theory  of  immortality  is  not 
found  in  any  of  the  writings  that  have  been  admitted  to 
the  Old  Testament  canon. 

c.  Combination  of  the  Persian  Doctrine  of  Resurrec- 
tion with  the  Greek  Doctrine  of  Incorporeal  Immor- 
tality.— Hellenistic  Jews  who  had  adopted  the  Platonic 

»Cf.  1:15;  4:7-15;  7:3;  8:20;  9:15;  10:13. 

"IV    Mac.     5:37;     7:3,     19;     9:8;     13:17;     14:5f.;     15:3;     16:13;     17:5,     12; 
18:16,   23. 

12  Ant.  xviii.   1:5;   vVar,  ii.  8:11. 

18  Ps.    16:9-11;    17:15;    49:13-15;    73:23-26. 

14  See  p.  246. 


xiii    NEW  THEORIES  OF  IMMORTALITY    287 

conception  of  the  soul,  but  who  wished  also  to  retain 
the  orthodox  Pharisaic  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  body,  tried  to  unite  the  two  ideas  by  the  assumption 
that  at  death  the  righteous  passed  at  once  into  a  blessed 
existence  and  the  wicked  into  a  state  of  punishment,  but 
that  they  were  raised  again  to  the  life  of  the  body  on 
earth  at  the  last  day  to  receive  their  final  rewards  and 
punishments.  This  doctrine  first  appears  in  the  oldest 
portion  of  the  Book  of  Enoch,  chaps.  1-36, 15  which  some 
critics  date  as  early  as  170  B.C.,  but  which  others  assign 
to  the  reign  of  John  Hyrcanus  ( 135-105  B.C.) .  In  chap. 
22  Sheol  is  described  as  containing  three  divisions,  two 
for  the  wicked  and  one  for  the  righteous.  One  contains 
the  souls  of  the  wicked  who  have  received  their  punish- 
ment in  this  life.  They  shall  remain  there  forever,  and 
not  be  raised  at  the  last  day.  The  second  contains  the 
wicked  who  have  not  been  punished  in  this  life.  "Here 
their  spirits  are  placed  apart  in  this  great  pain,  till  the 
day  of  judgment,  and  punishment,  and  torment  of  the 
accursed  forever."  The  third  contains  the  souls  of  the 
righteous  and  the  great  saints.  These  dwell  already  in 
Paradise,  and  drink  of  the  water  of  life,  while  they  await 
their  resurrection. 

In  the  Parables  of  Enoch  (Chaps.  37-71),  which  prob- 
ably date  from  a  time  shortly  before  the  beginning  of 
the  Christian  era,  the  righteous  pass  at  once  after  death 
into  blessedness  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  are 
guarded  by  the  pre-existent  "Son  of  Man."  16  At  the  time 
of  the  coming  of  the  "Son  of  Man"  they  are  to  be  raised 
to  life,  in  order  that  they  may  share  in  the  blessedness 
of  the  Messianic  kingdom.17 

A  similar  conception  appears  in  another  independent 
section  of  the  Book  of  Enoch  (chaps.  102-4)  :  "I  swear 
to  you  now,  ye  righteous  .   .   .   that  good  of  every  sort, 

u  See  Charles,   The  Book  of  Enoch;  Kautzsch,  Apocryphen  und  Pseudepigraphen. 
Charles,  Apocrypha  and  Pseudepigrapha  of  the  Old  Testamei  t. 
16  Enoch  38:1;  40:5;   43:4;  49:3;   60:6;   61:12;   70:4. 
"Enoch  51:1. 


288  SPIRITISM  xm 

joy  and  honour,  are  prepared  and  recorded  for  the  spirits 
of  those  who  have  died  in  righteousness.  .  .  .  Woe  to 
you  sinners,  when  ye  die  in  your  sins,  and  your  comrades 
say  of  you,  Blessed  are  the  sinners.  .  .  .  Know  ye  not 
that  their  souls  are  brought  down  to  Sheol,  that  they 
fare  ill,  and  that  their  affliction  will  be  great?"  18 

This  combination  of  Platonism  and  Pharisaism  found 
great  favour  in  the  early  Christian  Church  and  in  later 
Rabbinic  Judaism,  and  has  become  the  orthodox  doctrine 
of  Christian  scholastic  theology.  Thus  the  Westminster 
Shorter  Catechism  teaches:  "The  souls  of  believers  are, 
at  their  death,  made  perfect  in  holiness,  and  do  immedi- 
ately pass  into  glory;  and  their  bodies,  being  still  united 
to  Christ,  do  rest  in  their  graves  till  the  resurrection.  At 
the  resurrection,  believers,  being  raised  up  in  glory,  shall 
be  openly  acknowledged  and  acquitted  in  the  day  of 
judgment,  and  made  perfectly  blessed  in  the  full  enjoying 
of  God  to  all  eternity." 

The  difficulty  with  this  combination  is  that  a  judgment 
at  death  makes  a  last  judgment  unnecessary.  If  the  dead 
pass  at  once  into  felicity  or  into  torture,  there  is  no  need 
of  a  general  resurrection  in  order  that  the  divine  justice 
may  be  vindicated.  The  two  theories  seem  to  be  mutually 
exclusive,  and  all  efforts  to  combine  them  are  artificial. 

Thus  it  appears  that  in  the  time  of  Christ  four  theories 
of  the  future  life  prevailed  among  the  Jews;  first,  that  of 
the  Sadducees,  that  there  was  no  conscious  existence  of 
the  soul  after  death  and  no  resurrection;  second,  that  of 
the  Pharisees,  that  there  was  no  conscious  existence  of 
the  soul  after  death,  but  that  there  was  a  resurrection 
to  new  life  in  the  body  on  earth;  third,  that  of  the  Hellen- 
ists, that  there  was  a  conscious  existence  of  the  disem- 
bodied soul  without  resurrection;  and  fourth,  that  also 
of  the  Hellenists,  that  there  was  a  conscious  existence  of 
the  disembodied  soul,  followed  by  a  resurrection  at  the 
last  day.    These  four  theories  struggled  with  one  another 

11  Enoch   103 :1£.;   compare  also   Apoc.   Bar.,   chap.    30;   II   Esd.,   chap.   7. 


xiii    NEW  THEORIES  OF  IMMORTALITY    289 

for  supremacy,  no  consensus  of  opinion  was  reached,  and 
many  Jews  remained  sceptical  on  the  whole  subject.  A 
new  revelation  was  needed  to  clarify  thought.  Fresh 
light  must  be  thrown  upon  the  nature  of  God,  the  nature 
of  man,  and  their  relation  to  one  another,  before  the  prob- 
lem of  immortality  could  be  solved.  That  light  came  in 
Him,  through  whose  life,  and  teaching,  and  rising  again 
from  the  dead,  life  and  immortality  have  been  brought 
to  light. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE   TEACHING  OF    JESUS    IN   REGARD   TO   IMMORTALITY 

a.  The  Fatherhood  of  God. — The  fundamental  fact 
in  the  religious  experience  of  Jesus  was  the  fatherhood 
of  God.  He  constantly  called  God  "my  Father,"  and 
spoke  of  himself  as  "the  Son."  *  He  recognized  that 
God  was  the  Father  of  other  men  also,  but  he  carefully 
distinguished  his  sonship  from  theirs.  He  spoke  of  "your 
Father"  and  "my  Father,"  but  never  of  "our  Father." 
He  taught  his  disciples:  "After  this  manner  pray  ye, 
Our  Father  who  art  in  Heaven,"  but  he  did  not  join 
in  the  petition.  He  was  conscious  of  a  unique  filial  rela- 
tion. At  his  baptism  and  at  his  transfiguration  he  was 
aware  of  a  voice  saying,  "This  is  my  Son,  my  Beloved, 
in  whom  I  am  well  pleased";  and,  according  to  the  re- 
markable passage  from  the  Quelle  which  has  been  pre- 
served both  by  Matthew  and  by  Luke,  he  declared:  "All 
things  have  been  delivered  unto  me  of  my  Father;  and 
no  one  knoweth  the  Son,  save  the  Father;  neither  doth 
any  know  the  Father,  save  the  Son,  and  he  to  whomso- 
ever the  Son  willeth  to  reveal  him."  2  Nevertheless,  this 
consciousness  of  his  own  peculiar  sonship  did  not  hinder, 
but  rather  helped  him,  to  realise  that  other  men  also 
were  children  of  God  in  a  very  deep  and  true  sense.  On 
this  foundation  of  personal  experience  of  sonship  to  God 
Jesus  based  his  gospel.  Father  became  his  constant  name 
for  God,  being  used  one  hundred  and  eighty  times  in  our 
canonical  Gospels. 

This  title  had  been  applied  to  God  in  the  Old  Testa- 

JMark  8:38;  14:36;  Matt.  7:21;  10:32f.;  12:50;  16:17;  etc.;  Luke  4:3,  9. 
'Mark    1:11;    9:7;   Matt.    ll:27  =  Luke   10:22.     Cf.    Matt.    17:2Sf.;    Mark   12:6. 

290 


xiv  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  291 

ment  and  in  other  ancient  religions,  but  Jesus  gave  it  a 
new  meaning  both  extensively  and  intensively.  Exten- 
sively, in  the  Old  Testament  God  was  the  Father  of 
Israel,3  of  the  king,4  and  of  the  righteous;  5  but  he  was 
never  called  the  Father  of  each  individual  Israelite,  much 
less  of  all  men.  The  Gentiles  stood  outside  of  his  fatherly 
interest  and  care.6  For  Jesus,  on  the  contrary,  God  was 
the  Father  of  every  individual  human  being.  When  he 
said,  "Your  Heavenly  Father  feeds  the  birds  of  the 
heaven,  and  clothes  the  lilies  and  the  grass  of  the  field," 
and  added,  "Are  ye  not  of  much  more  value  than  they? 
shall  He  not  much  more  feed  and  clothe  you?"  he  im- 
plied that  God's  fatherly  care  extends  even  to  the  lower 
orders  of  life;  and  therefore,  all  men  must  be  included 
in  its  scope.  In  the  parable  of  the  good  Samaritan  he 
taught  that  God's  fatherhood  transcends  the  limits  of 
race;  and  in  the  parables  of  the  two  sons  and  of  the 
prodigal  son  he  taught  that  God  is  the  Father  of  sinners 
as  well  as  of  the  righteous.7 

Intensively  also  Jesus'  conception  of  the  fatherhood 
of  God  went  far  beyond  the  teaching  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. In  the  Old  Testament,  as  in  many  other  ancient 
religions,  Father  meant  primarily  "begetter,"  or  "crea- 
tor." 8  It  was  also  a  title  of  respect  expressing  the  divine 
superiority  to  men  in  wisdom,  power,  and  goodness;  and 
a  title  of  authority  describing  God  as  the  ruler  of  the 
world,  just  as  the  patriarchal  father  was  the  ruler  of  his 
family.  Rarely,  and  only  in  the  later  Old  Testament 
books,  does  Father  express  the  parental  love  of  God 
toward  his  children.9 

All  these  older  meanings  of  fatherhood  Jesus  re- 
tained in  his  conception  of  God.     God  is  Father  because 

»  Deut.  32:6,   18;  Isa.   64:8;   Mai.  2:10;  Ex.  4:22;  Hos.   11:1. 

*II  Sam.  7:14f.;  Ps.  2:7;  89:26f. 

•Ps.    103:13. 

•Ex.    17:14,    16;   Deut.   25:17-19;   I   Sam.   15:3;   Mai.   1:2. 

7  Matt.  6:25-34;  7:7-11;  10:29-31;  18:14;  Luke  15. 

•Deut.    32:18;    Isa.    64:8;   Jer.    2:27;    Mai.    2:10. 

»Hos.   11:1,   8;  Jer.   3:14,   19;   31:3;   Mai.   3:17;   Ps.   103:13. 


292  SPIRITISM  xiv 

he  has  created  men,10  and  because  he  is  infinitely  superior 
to  them  in  every  respect.  To  express  this  divine  tran- 
scendence Jesus  used  the  terms  "Heavenly  Father,"  or 
"Father  in  Heaven."  God  is  Father  also  because  He 
is  the  sovereign  ruler  of  the  universe.  The  Father  is  at 
the  same  time  King  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.11  The 
central  element,  however,  in  Jesus'  conception  of  God's 
fatherhood  is  his  infinite  and  eternal  love.  This  element, 
which  exists  in  the  Old  Testament  only  in  germ,  becomes 
fundamental  in  the  theology  of  Jesus,12  so  that  the 
Apostle  John  can  correctly  summarise  his  Master's  teach- 
ing by  saying,  "God  is  love,"  that  is,  love  is  not  merely 
one  among  many  divine  attributes,  but  it  is  the  essence 
of  God,  it  is  the  quality  which  explains  and  unifies  all 
the  divine  attributes  and  activities.  This  love  of  God 
Jesus  exemplified  in  his  own  attitude  toward  men  by 
showing  a  love  that  included  Gentiles  as  well  as  Jews, 
women  and  little  children  as  well  as  men,  ignorant  as 
well  as  wise,  lowly  as  well  as  exalted,  sinful  as  well  as 
good,  unchurched  and  hated  as  well  as  pious  and  religious. 

b.  The  Sonship  of  Men. — The  counter-truth  to  the 
universal  fatherhood  of  God  is,  that  all  men  are  God's 
children.  This  Jesus  affirmed  quite  as  often  as  that  God 
is  the  Father  in  Heaven.  When  he  spoke  of  men  as 
"becoming  sons  of  God,"  13  this  did  not  imply  that  they 
were  not  already  sons,  but  only  that  they  could  continually 
advance  into  a  larger  realisation  and  exemplification  of 
sonship.  All  men  are  children  of  God,  but  all  do  not 
yet  live  like  God's  children. 

From  sonship  to  God  Jesus  inferred  the  infinite  value 
of  every  human  soul.  The  soul  is  more  precious  than 
all  material  things:  "What  shall  it  profit  a  man,  if  he 
shall  gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose  his  own  life;  or 
what  shall  a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his  life."     The 

10  Mark  10:6. 

"Mark.  10:27;   14:36;  Matt.  6:4,  6,  8,  18,  32;  5:48;   19-17. 

"  See  above,  note  7. 

18  Matt.   5:45;    Mark.   3:35;   John   1:12-13;   3:3-9. 


xiv  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  293 

soul  is  more  valuable  than  all  plant  or  animal  life,  more 
valuable  than  the  grass  or  the  lilies,  more  valuable  than 
birds,  or  sheep,  or  oxen.  In  the  parables  of  the  lost 
piece  of  money,  the  lost  sheep,  and  the  prodigal  son, 
Jesus  taught  that  God  cherishes  every  human  soul,  and 
that  He  cannot  bear  that  one  of  his  children  should 
perish.14 

c.  The  Immortality  of  the  Soul. — The  love  of  God, 
which  makes  every  human  being  precious  to  Him,  is  the 
basis  of  Jesus'  teaching  of  immortality.  If  God  re- 
gards his  children  as  supremely  precious  because  He  loves 
them,  it  is  inconceivable  that  he  will  give  them  up  to 
annihilation  in  death.  No  true  parent  can  bear  to  think 
of  the  death  of  his  smallest  or  feeblest  child,  "even  so  it 
is  not  the  will  of  your  Heavenly  Father  that  one  of  these 
little  ones  should  perish."  15  Granted  Jesus'  conception 
of  the  father-love  of  God,  his  doctrine  of  immortality 
follows  from  it  with  inevitable  logic.  The  certainty  of 
the  future  life  rings  through  all  the  gospel  message. 
"Be  not  afraid  of  them  that  kill  the  body,  but  are  not 
able  to  kill  the  soul."  "See  that  ye  despise  not  one 
of  these  little  ones;  for  I  say  unto  you,  that  in  heaven 
their  angels  do  always  behold  the  face  of  my  Father 
which  is  in  heaven."  Jesus  spoke  frequently  of  "inherit- 
ing eternal  life."  To  the  penitent  thief  at  his  side  he 
said:  "To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise."  He 
said:  "In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions,  I  go 
to  prepare  a  place  for  you.  And  if  I  go  and  prepare 
a  place  for  you,  I  will  come  again  and  receive  you  unto 
myself;  that  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also."  He 
bade  men  "lay  up  treasures  in  heaven,  where  neither 
moth  nor  rust  doth  consume,  and  where  thieves  do  not 
break  through  and  steal."  16 

By   the   light   of   this   doctrine    of   immortality  Jesus 

"Matt.    16:26;   6:25-30;    12:12;   Luke  15. 

"  Matt.    18:14. 

M  Matt.  10:  28=Luke  12:  4;  Matt.   18:  lo;   19:  16,  29;  Luk«  23:  43;  John  14:  2. 


294  SPIRITISM  xiv 

tested  the  current  Jewish  theories  in  regard  to  the  future 
life  and  found  them  inadequate. 

d.  Jesus'  Attitude  Toward  the  Sadducees. — Jesus' 
relation  to  the  Sadducean  doctrine  of  eternal  sleep  of 
the  dead  comes  to  clearest  expression  in  the  lengthy  argu- 
ment with  the  Sadducees  recorded  by  all  the  Synoptic 
Gospels.17  The  Sadducees  repeated  an  ancient  story, 
which  they  regarded  as  a  reductio  ad  absurdum  of  the 
Pharisaic  belief  in  resurrection,  about  a  woman  who 
obeyed  the  levirate  law  of  Deut.  25  15  requiring  a  man 
to  take  his  brother's  widow,  if  he  died  childless,  and  beget 
children  for  his  brother.  This  woman  married  seven 
brothers  in  turn,  who  all  died  childless.  "In  the  resur- 
rection, therefore,"  the  Sadducees  asked  triumphantly, 
"whose  wife  shall  she  be?  for  the  seven  had  her  to 
wife."  They  regarded  this  case  as  a  demonstration  that 
a  return  to  physical  life  on  earth,  such  as  the  Pharisees 
taught,  was  impossible;  and  with  the  rejection  of  resur- 
rection they  also  rejected  belief  in  any  sort  of  immor- 
tality. 

Jesus  replied:  "Ye  do  greatly  err,  not  knowing  the 
scriptures,  nor  the  power  of  God.  God  said  unto  Moses, 
'I  am  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the 
God  of  Jacob.'  He  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of 
the  living,  for  all  live  unto  him."  That  is  to  say,  if  God 
has  entered  during  life  into  such  a  personal  relation  of 
love  and  fellowship  with  a  man  that  He  can  say,  "I  am 
Abraham's  God,  and  Isaac's  God,  and  Jacob's  God," 
that  relation  is  from  the  nature  of  the  case  indestructible. 
They  cannot  die  on  whom  God  has  set  his  love;  "He  is 
not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living";  those  whom 
He  has  once  loved  must  live  evermore  unto  Him.  This 
is  the  same  confidence  that  Paul  expressed  when  he  said : 
"I  am  persuaded  that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels, 
nor  principalities,  nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come, 
nor  powers,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  created 

"Mark  12:18-27  =  Matt.  22:23-33  =  Luke  20:27-40. 


xiv  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  295 

thing,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God, 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."18  Jesus  thus  re- 
jected totally  the  doctrine  of  the  Sadducees  that  the  con- 
scious existence  of  the  soul  ceases  at  death,  and  in  so 
doing  he  rejected  also  the  doctrine  of  the  Prophets  and 
of  the  Law  which  the  Sadducees  had  perpetuated. 

e.  Jesus'  Attitude  Toward  the  Pharisees. — In  op- 
posing the  Sadducees  Jesus  in  a  measure  put  himself  on 
the  side  of  the  Pharisees,  but  their  crass,  materialistic 
conception  of  the  future  life  was  as  unacceptable  to  him 
as  it  was  to  the  Sadducees.  He  recognized  that  the 
Sadducees  were  right  in  holding  that  a  resumption  of 
the  present  life  on  earth  is  impossible.  "They  that  are 
accounted  worthy  to  attain  to  that  world,  and  the  resur- 
rection from  the  dead,  neither  marry,  nor  are  given  in 
marriage;  neither  can  they  die  any  more,  for  they  are 
equal  unto  the  angels,  and  are  sons  of  God,  being  sons 
of  the  resurrection."  That  is  to  say,  the  future  life  is 
different  in  kind  from  the  present  life;  it  is  no  mere  re- 
animation  of  the  body  that  has  been  laid  in  the  grave, 
but  it  is  entrance  upon  a  new  and  incomprehensible  form 
of  existence  "like  unto  the  angels."  Jesus  thus  rejected 
the  Pharisaic  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh 
just  as  completely  as  he  rejected  the  Sadducean  doctrine 
of  eternal  sleep  in  Sheol. 

/.  Jesus'  Attitude  Tozvard  the  Alexandrian  School. 
— Jesus  rejection  of  the  Pharisaic  idea  of  resurrection 
seems  to  ally  him  with  the  Platonic  doctrine  of  immor- 
tality held  by  the  Hellenistic  Jews  of  Alexandria;  and,  it 
must  be  admitted,  he  is  nearer  to  this  school  than  to 
either  the  Sadducees  or  the  Pharisees;  still  his  teaching 
is  not  identical  with  that  of  the  Book  of  Wisdom.  Wis- 
dom and  all  the  Hellenists  maintain  that  the  future  life 
is  purely  incorporeal,  that  there  is  no  resurrection  of  any 
sort,  but  that  the  body  is  evil  and  a  clog  to  the  soul  from 
which  it  is  delivered  by  death.    This  is  not  the  conception 

"Rom.    8:38f. 


296  SPIRITISM  xiv 

of  Jesus.  He  retains  the  old  Pharisaic  term  "resurrec- 
tion," although  he  does  not  use  it  in  the  Pharisaic  sense. 
He  speaks  of  a  "recompense  in  the  resurrection  of  the 
just."  He  says,  "I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life."  19 
This  must  indicate  that  he  did  not  hold  that  the  future 
life  is  to  be  the  ghost-existence  of  a  discarnate  spirit, 
as  both  primitive  animism  and  classical  philosophy  taught, 
but  that  the  soul  is  provided  at  death  with  a  new  body 
adapted  to  the  new  environment  upon  which  it  is  enter- 
ing. It  is  not  the  body  that  has  been  laid  in  the  grave, 
but  a  superior  body,  like  unto  those  worn  by  the  angels 
of  God.  The  entrance  upon  this  new  existence  Jesus 
can  appropriately  call  "resurrection,"  even  though  his 
idea  is  vastly  different  from  the  Pharisaic  conception 
of  a  resurrection  of  the  flesh. 

Paul's  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  seems'  to  be  iden- 
tical; and,  therefore,  is  the  best  commentary  on  the 
teaching  of  Jesus:  "But  some  one  will  say,  How  are  the 
dead  raised?  and  with  what  manner  of  body  do  they 
come?  Thou  foolish  one,  that  which  thou  thyself  sowest 
is  not  quickened  except  it  die ;  and  that  which  thou  sowest, 
thou  sowest  not  the  body  that  shall  be,  but  a  bare  grain, 
it  may  chance  of  wheat,  or  of  some  other  kind;  but  God 
giveth  it  a  body  even  as  it  pleaseth  him,  and  to  each  seed 
a  body  of  its  own.  .  .  .  There  are  also  celestial  bodies, 
and  bodies  terrestrial:  but  the  glory  of  the  celestial  is 
one,  and  the  glory  of  the  terrestrial  is  another.  .  .  . 
So  also  is  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  It  is  sown  in  cor- 
ruption; it  is  raised  in  incorruption:  it  is  sown  in  dis- 
honour; it  is  raised  in  glory;  it  is  sown  in  weakness;  it 
is  raised  in  power:  it  is  sown  a  natural  body;  it  is  raised 
a  spiritual  body.  If  there  is  a  natural  body,  there  is  also 
a  spiritual  body.  .  .  .  Now  this  I  say,  brethren,  that 
flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God; 
neither  doth  corruption  inherit  incorruption.  .  .  .  For 
this  corruptible  must  put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal 

>»Mark  12:25f.  =  Matt.  22:30f.  =  Luke  20:35f.;  Luke  14:14;  John  11:25. 


xiv  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  297 

must  put  on  immortality.  But  when  this  corruptible  shall 
have  put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal  shall  have  put 
on  immortality,  then  shall  come  to  pass  the  saying  that 
is  written,  Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory.  O  death, 
where  is  thy  victory?  O  death,  where  is  thy  sting?  .  .  . 
Thanks  be  to  God,  who  giveth  us  the  victory  through  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ."  20 

Jesus  thus  transcended  the  materialistic  denial  of  im- 
mortality by  affirming  that  there  is  no  break  between  the 
present  and  the  future  existence  of  the  soul,  but  that  life 
is  continuous.  He  transcended  the  equally  materialistic 
conception  of  a  re-animation  of  the  body  laid  in  the 
grave  by  teaching  that  the  eternal  mode  of  existence  is 
different  in  kind  from  the  present  mode,  and  is  akin  to 
that  of  a  superior  order  of  spiritual  beings,  the  angels. 
He  transcended  the  ghost-theory  of  primitive  animism 
by  teaching  that  the  soul  at  death  enters,  not  upon  a 
dreamy,  shadowy,  worthless  existence,  but  upon  a  richer 
and  more  abundant  life.  He  transcended  the  philosophic 
abstraction  of  pure  spirit,  with  its  attendant  danger  of 
loss  of  personality  through  absorption  into  the  Universal 
Spirit,  by  teaching  that  the  soul  acquires  at  death  a 
spiritual  body,  adapted  to  the  needs  of  eternal,  spiritual 
existence.  Thus  he  gave  the  world  the  loftiest  and 
noblest  doctrine  of  immortality  that  has  ever  been  con- 
ceived, and  surpassed  the  best  efforts  of  all  the  religious 
thinkers  who  had  gone  before  him. 

The  Christian  Church  in  its  teaching  on  immortality 
has  not  always  maintained  the  high  standard  set  by  its 
Master,  but  has  substituted  the  Jewish  compromise  be- 
tween Hellenism  and  Pharisaism  that  was  current  in  the 
time  of  Christ,  according  to  which  souls  entered  at  once 
after  death  upon  a  spiritual  immortality,  but  returned 
to  their  bodies  at  the  general  resurrection  of  the  last  day. 
This  has  become  the  orthodox  doctrine  of  the  great  his- 
toric creeds.     Thus  the  Westminster  Confession,  the  last 

*>I   Cor.    15:35-57. 


298  SPIRITISM  xiv 

of  these  creeds,  says :  "The  bodies  of  men,  after  death, 
return  to  dust,  and  see  corruption;  but  their  souls  (which 
neither  die  nor  sleep),  having  an  immortal  subsistence, 
immediately  return  to  God  who  gave  them.  The  souls 
of  the  righteous,  being  then  made  perfect  in  holiness,  are 
received  into  the  highest  heavens,  where  they  behold  the 
face  of  God  in  light  and  glory,  waiting  for  the  full  re- 
demption of  their  bodies:  and  the  souls  of  the  wicked  are 
cast  into  hell,  where  they  remain  in  torments  and  utter 
darkness,  reserved  to  the  judgment  of  the  great  day. 
Besides  these  two  places  for  souls  separated  from  their 
bodies,  the  Scripture  acknowledgeth  none.  At  the  last 
day,  such  as  are  found  alive  shall  not  die,  but  be  changed: 
and  all  the  dead  shall  be  raised  up  with  the  selfsame 
bodies,  and  none  other,  although  with  different  qualities, 
which  shall  be  united  again  to  their  souls  for  ever."  21 
This  is  exactly  the  doctrine  of  the  Book  of  Enoch  and 
of  the  Talmud,22  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  it  represents 
in  the  slightest  degree  the  original  teaching  of  Jesus. 

g.  The  Resurrection  of  Jesus. — According  to  the 
unanimous  belief  of  the  primitive  Christian  Church  Jesus 
died  upon  the  cross,  was  buried,  and  on  the  third  day 
rose  from  the  dead  and  showed  himself  alive  to  a  large 
number  of  his  disciples.  He  thus  not  merely  taught  im- 
mortality, but  also  demonstrated  it  in  his  own  case  by 
proving  that  he  had  survived  the  catastrophe  of  death. 
In  regard  to  this  stupendous  claim  of  the  first  followers 
of  Jesus  the  historical  facts  are  as  follows: 

i.  Mark,  our  oldest  Gospel,  written  from  thirty  to 
thirty-five  years  after  the  crucifixion,  declares  that  Jesus 
predicted  not  only  his  death,  but  also  his  resurrection; 
and  this  testimony  is  repeated  by  all  the  other  Gospels.23 

2.  Christian  literature  beginning  with  the  sermons 
of  Peter  and  Paul  in  the  Book  of  Acts,  continuing  with 

21  Westminster   Confession,   Chapter  XXXII. 

22  See  p.  284. 

"Mark.  8:31;  9:9f.,  31;   10:34. 


xiv  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  299 

the  early  letters  of  Paul  (52-60  A.D.),  the  Gospels  (60- 
100  A.D.),  and  other  later  writings,  is  unanimous  that 
Jesus  was  crucified,  and  that  he  certainly  died  on  the 
cross.  Crucifixion  is  not  the  sort  of  punishment  that  a 
man  can  survive  and  lead  an  active  life  after  it  has  oc- 
curred. The  Roman  executioners  may  be  trusted  to  have 
seen  to  it  that  Jesus  was  surely  dead  before  they  allowed 
his  body  to  be  removed  from  the  cross,  and  the  Fourth 
Gospel  adds:  "One  of  the  soldiers  with  a  spear  pierced 
his  side,  and  straightway  there  came  out  blood  and  water" 
(i.  e.,  the  heart  was  pierced).  "And  he  that  hath  seen 
hath  born  witness,  and  his  witness  is  true  :  and  he  knoweth 
that  he  saith  true,  that  ye  also  may  believe"  (i.  e.,  this 
rests  upon  the  testimony  of  an  eye-witness).24  There 
can  be  no  doubt,  therefore,  as  to  the  reality  of  Jesus' 
death.  The  "swoon  theory"  as  an  explanation  of  the 
primitive  Christian  belief  in  Jesus'  resurrection  is  now 
thoroughly  discredited  among  scientific  historians. 

3.  The  belief  that  Jesus  had  risen  from  the  dead 
appeared  among  the  first  disciples  on  the  third  day 
after  his  crucifixion,  and  remained  unshaken  throughout 
the  whole  period  covered  by  the  New  Testament  litera- 
ture. The  early  Aramaic  document  on  which  Luke  bases 
his  narrative  in  the  first  thirteen  chapters  of  Acts  records 
that,  beginning  with  the  Day  of  Pentecost,  fifty  days 
after  the  crucifixion,  Peter  began  to  preach,  "Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  the  Messiah,  whom  ye  crucified,  hath  God 
raised  from  the  dead."  This  testimony  is  confirmed  by 
Peter  himself  in  his  first  letter  (c.  64  A.D.).25  From 
personal  experience  as  the  companion  of  Paul,  Luke 
testifies  that  Paul  preached  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  from 
the  time  of  his  conversion,  soon  after  the  crucifixion, 
through  all  his  missionary  journeys;  26  and  his  statements 
are  confirmed  by  Paul's  earliest  letters,  I  Thessalonians, 

"Acts  2:36;  4:10;  I  Thes.  4:14;  5:10;  I  Cor.  15:3;  Mark  15:37;  John  19:34f. 
"Acts  1:22;  2:24;  2:31-34;  3:15;  4:2,  10,  33;  5:30;   10:40;   I  Pet.  1:3,  21;  3:21. 
28  Acts  13:30-37;  17:3,  18,  31-32;  26:8,  23. 


300  SPIRITISM  xiv 

II  Thessalonians,  I  Corinthians,  II  Corinthians,  Galatians, 
Romans,  Colossians,  Ephesians,  and  Philippians,  which 
are  the  oldest  New  Testament  writings,  and  range  in  date 
between  52  and  60  A.D.27  There  is  not  another  subject 
on  which  the  New  Testament  writings  are  so  unanimous 
as  they  are  on  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the 
dead.  There  were  disputes  in  the  Church  as  to  whether 
his  followers  also  rose,  and  disputes  on  many  matters 
of  doctrine  and  practice;  but  no  early  Christian  ever 
questioned  that  Jesus  himself  had  risen,  nor  did  any 
heresy  denying  the  resurrection  appear  in  the  early  cen- 
turies of  Christianity.  This  fact  of  universal  faith  in 
Jesus'  resurrection  in  the  Christian  Church  from  the  very 
beginning  is  admitted  by  all  schools  of  criticism,  and  must 
be  satisfactorily  accounted  for  by  any  historical  theory 
of  the  resurrection. 

4.  The  New  Testament  writings  state  that  the  primi- 
tive Christian  assurance  of  the  fact  of  Jesus'  resurrection 
rested  upon  two  foundations :  first,  the  empty  tomb  and 
the  inability  of  the  Jewish  authorities  to  produce  the 
body  of  Jesus;  and  second,  upon  repeated  appearances  of 
Jesus  to  his  disciples  during  the  forty  days  that  followed 
his  crucifixion.  Matthew  (70-80  A.D.)  alone  narrates 
the  guarding  of  the  tomb  in  which  the  body  of  Jesus  was 
laid  by  the  Jewish  and  Roman  authorities.  Mark,  our 
oldest  Gospel,  followed  by  all  the  other  Gospels,  narrates 
that  women  who  came  to  the  tomb  early  in  the  morning 
of  the  third  day  found  it  empty,  and  reported  this  to 
the  Apostles.  Luke  and  John  record  that  Peter  and 
John  then  went  to  the  tomb,  and  found  it  empty,  as  the 
women  had  reported.  Matthew  alone  relates  that  the 
priests  bribed  the  soldiers  to  say  that  the  body  of  Jesus 
had  been  stolen  while  they  slept.28  The  empty  tomb 
thus  rests  primarily  upon  the  testimony  of  Mark,  who 

37  I  Thes.  1:10;  4:14;  I  Cor.  6:14;  15:3-23;  II  Cor.  4:14;  5:15;  13:4;  Gal. 
1:1;  Rom.  1:4;  4:24f.;  5:10;  6:4-10;  7:4;  8:11,  34;  10:9;  14:9;  Col.  2:12;  3:1; 
Eph.  1:19-23;  2:5,  6;  Phil.  2:8-11;  3:10. 

38  Matt.   27:62-66;    Mark   16:1-8;   Luke  24:12,   24;   John   20:3-10;   Matt.   28:11-15. 


xiv  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  301 

was  one  of  the  eye-witnesses  of  the  closing  events  in  the 
earthly  life  of  Jesus,  and  in  whose  mother's  house  the 
last  supper  was  eaten  and  the  Spirit  descended  on  the 
Day  of  Pentecost.29  Papias,  who  wrote  about  140  A.D., 
states  that  "Mark,  who  was  Peter's  interpreter,  wrote 
down  accurately,  though  not  in  order,  all  that  he  recol- 
lected of  what  Christ  had  said  or  done."  Mark's  testi- 
mony to  the  empty  tomb  is  thus  ultimately  the  testimony 
of  Peter  also. 

Luke  in  his  account  of  the  empty  tomb  follows  Mark 
in  the  main,  but  has  access  to  another  source,  which,  in 
addition  to  Mary  Magdalene  and  Mary  the  mother  of 
James,  mentions  Joanna  among  the  women  who  found 
the  sepulchre  empty.  This  Joanna  is  named  by  Luke 
only  in  8  :3  :  "Joanna,  the  wife  of  Chuzas,  Herod's  stew- 
ard, and  Susanna,  and  many  others,  who  ministered  unto 
them  of  their  substance."  The  same  special  source  con- 
nected with  Herod's  court  appears  also  in  Luke  23  :7-i2. 
It  is  a  reasonable  conjecture  that  this  special  source  used 
by  Luke  was  the  account  of  Joanna  herself,  or  of  one 
of  the  other  women  who  with  her  found  the  tomb  empty. 

Through  some  accident  of  textual  transmission  the 
Gospel  of  Mark  most  unfortunately  breaks  off  abruptly 
at  16:8,  and  what  follows  in  the  current  text  is  an  addi- 
tion, perhaps  by  the  Presbyter  Aristion,  which  is  not  found 
in  the  earliest  New  Testament  manuscripts.  Luke  fol- 
lows Mark  closely  in  24:1-1 1,  and  therefore  it  is  probable 
that  he  followed  him  also  in  the  account  of  Peter's  dis- 
covery of  the  empty  tomb  in  24:12.  This  is  just  the  sort 
of  material  that  Mark  might  be  expected  to  have  received 
from  the  oral  instruction  of  Peter.  The  empty  tomb, 
accordingly,  rests  not  only  upon  the  testimony  of  Mark, 
but  also  upon  the  testimony  of  two  other  early  and  inde- 
pendent sources,  the  tradition  of  the  women  who  visited 
the  sepulchre,  and  of  Peter.  The  only  ways  in  which 
the  evidence  of  the  empty  tomb  can  be  eliminated  are  by 

29  Mark    14:15,    Slf.;   Luke  24:33;   Acts    l:13f.,    2:1-4;    12:12. 


302 


SPIRITISM  xiv 


the  supposition  that  the  disciples  stole  the  body  of  Jesus, 
which  is  precluded  by  their  moral  character  and  their 
willingness  to  die  for  their  testimony;  or  by  the  theory 
that  the  empty  tomb  is  a  later  embellishment  of  the  tradi- 
tion, which  is  difficult  in  view  of  the  three  ancient  and 
independent  lines  of  evidence  in  support  of  it. 

5.  The  earliest  witness  to  the  appearances  of  Jesus 
after  his  resurrection  is  Paul  in  I  Cor.  15:3-8:  "For  I 
delivered  unto  you  first  of  all  that  which  also  I  received: 
that  Christ  died  for  our  sins  according  to  the  scriptures; 
and  that  he  was  buried;  and  that  he  hath  been  raised  on 
the  third  day  according  to  the  scriptures;  and  that  he  ap- 
peared unto  Cephas;  then  to  the  twelve;  then  he  appeared 
to  above  five  hundred  brethren  at  once,  of  whom  the 
greater  part  remain  until  now,  but  some  are  fallen  asleep; 
then  he  appeared  unto  James;  then  to  all  the  apostles; 
and  last  of  all,  as  to  the  child  untimely  born,  he  appeared 
to  me  also."  Here  Paul,  writing  only  twenty-five  or 
twenty-six  years  after  the  crucifixion  (no  farther  away 
from  the  events  that  he  records  than  we  are  from  the 
incidents  of  the  Spanish- American  war) ,  declares  that  he 
had  received  the  death,  burial,  and  resurrection  of  Jesus 
as  part  of  the  primitive  apostolic  preaching;  and  had  pro- 
claimed this  on  his  first  visit  to  Corinth  several  years 
earlier:  "I  delivered  unto  you  first  of  all  that  which  also 
I  received."  Furthermore,  he  asserts  that  Peter,  James, 
and  the  other  apostles,  who  were  well  known  to  him  per- 
sonally, vouched  for  appearances  of  the  risen  Jesus  to 
themselves.  Still  more,  he  claims  that  there  were  above 
five  hundred  brethren,  most  of  whom  were  still  alive,  who 
had  seen  Jesus  after  his  resurrection.  Finally,  Paul  says 
that,  some  time  after  the  appearances  to  the  others,  Jesus 
appeared  to  him  also.  This  testimony  of  Paul,  a  contem- 
porary of  Jesus,  and  a  personal  friend  of  the  first  apostles, 
written  within  such  a  short  period  after  the  events,  is 
historical  evidence  of  the  first  order. 

The  first  appearance  of  Jesus  that  Paul  records,  that 


xiv  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  303 

to  Peter  (I  Cor.  15:5  a),  is  attested  by  an  independent 
tradition  in  Luke  24:34,  also  by  Acts  1:22,  3:15  and 
I  Pet.  1  :3,  21.  The  second  appearance  recorded  by  Paul 
(I  Cor.  15:5  b) ,  that  to  the  whole  body  of  disciples,  is 
recorded  also  by  Luke  24:36-42,  and  independently  by 
John  20:19-25.  The  third  appearance,  according  to  Paul, 
that  to  above  five  hundred  brethren  at  once  (I  Cor. 
15:6),  is  probably  identical  with  the  appearance  on  a 
mountain  in  Galilee  narrated  by  Matt.  28:16-20;  Acts 
1  :2b-2  and  also  by  the  Gospel  of  Peter.  The  appearance 
to  James  (I  Cor.  15:7  a)  is  mentioned  also  by  a  later 
tradition  in  the  Gospel  according  to  the  Hebrews;  and 
the  appearance  to  all  the  apostles  (I  Cor.  15:7  b)  is  re- 
lated also  by  Luke  24:44-49  and  Acts  1:4,  as  well  as 
by  the  Gospel  according  to  the  Hebrews.  The  belated 
appearance  to  Paul  himself  (I  Cor.  15:8)  is  recorded 
also  in  Acts  9:1-9;  22:1-11;  26:1-18,  and  is  frequently 
alluded  to  in  Paul's  letters,  e.  g.,  I  Cor.  9  :i ;  Gal.  1  :i  1-17. 
The  appearance  to  Mary  Magdalene  (and  other 
women)  is  narrated  by  Matt.  28:9-10;  John  20:11-18; 
and  by  the  appendix  to  Mark  (Mark  16:9-11).  In  all 
probability  Matthew's  account  is  based  upon  the  missing 
conclusion  to  Mark's  Gospel,  since  he  follows  Mark  in 
the  preceding  narrative  of  the  empty  tomb.  The  absence 
of  this  appearance  from  Paul's  list  signifies  nothing,  since 
Paul  is  giving  primarily  a  list  of  appearances  to  the 
apostles,  among  whom  he  claims  to  be  included  on  ac- 
count of  Jesus'  appearance  to  him  also.  The  appearance 
to  the  two  disciples  on  the  road  to  Emmaus  is  related  by 
Luke  only,  24:13-35  (Appendix  to  Mark,  16  :i2-i3),  but 
the  Greek  name  Cleopas  borne  by  one  of  the  disciples 
suggests  that  the  incident  is  derived  from  the  special 
source  connected  with  Herod's  court  from  which  Luke 
derived  8:3;  23:7-12;  24:10,  namely  the  report  of  some 
of  the  women  who  came  early  to  the  tomb.  The  appear- 
ances to  the  apostles  recorded  in  John  20:26-31  and 
21  :i-24  are  not  attested  by  any  earlier  sources,  and  there- 


304  SPIRITISM  xiv 

fore  stand  on  a  lower  plane  of  credibility;  still,  in  spite 
of  its  late  date  (c.  ioo  A.D.) ,  the  Gospel  of  John  unques- 
tionably contains  many  genuine  incidents  of  the  life  of 
Jesus  that  are  not  recorded  by  the  Synoptic  Gospels,  and 
in  some  cases  John  seems  to  have  preserved  an  even  more 
accurate  tradition  than  the  Synoptists.  The  testimony  of 
John,  therefore,  is  not  lightly  to  be  dismissed  as  worth- 
less, even  when  it  is  unsupported  by  earlier  evidence. 

The  only  way  in  which  one  can  set  aside  this  large 
body  of  early  testimony  to  appearances  of  Jesus  in  proof 
of  his  resurrection  is  by  the  hypothesis  that  all  these 
appearances  were  visions.  This  theory  does  not  explain 
the  ancient  testimony  to  the  empty  tomb,  and  is  com- 
pelled to  call  in  the  "fraud  theory"  to  its  support.  It  is 
contrary  to  the  evidence  of  our  sources,  which  assert  that 
Jesus  ate  and  drank  with  his  disciples,  bade  them  touch 
him,  and  gave  them  all  possible  proof  that  he  was  not  an 
apparition.30  The  appearances  do  not  occur  in  such  a 
way  as  would  be  natural,  if  they  were  visionary.  If  only 
visions  had  occurred,  we  should  expect  that  they  would 
have  come  a  considerable  time  after  Jesus'  death,  when 
the  disciples  had  recovered  from  their  first  disappoint- 
ment— "The  chief  priests  and  our  rulers  delivered  him 
up  to  be  condemned  to  death,  and  crucified  him;  but  we 
hoped  that  it  was  he  who  should  redeem  Israel" — and 
when,  after  meditation  on  Jesus'  teaching  they  had  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  he  still  lived  in  Heaven  with  his 
Father.  Someone  might  then  have  seen  a  vision  of  Jesus 
in  glory  such  as  Stephen  saw  (Acts  7  15 5 f . )  ;  and  others, 
hearing  of  it,  might  have  had  similar  visions.  The  num- 
ber of  visions  would  slowly  increase,  and  no  limit  would 
be  set  to  the  period  during  which  they  occurred.  It 
would  even  be  regarded  as  a  normal  Christian  experience 
to  have  a  vision  of  the  glorified  Christ.  Instead  of  this, 
our  earliest  sources  are  unanimous  that  the  appearances 
began  on  the  third  day  after  Jesus'  crucifixion,  that  they 

»°Luke  24:30,  37-43;  John  20:27;  21:13;  Acts  1:3;   10:41;   1  John  1:1. 


xiv  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  305 

came  to  so  many  persons  on  that  day  that  by  evening 
the  disciples  were  convinced  that  Jesus  had  risen  from 
the  dead,  that  they  lasted  over  a  period  of  only  forty 
days,  then  ceased  abruptly,  and  were  not  expected  to 
recur  again,  so  that  those  who  had  seen  them  constituted 
a  unique  class  of  witnesses  to  the  resurrection.  This  is 
not  in  accord  with  the  psychology  of  visions.  The  later  ap- 
pearance to  Paul  was  so  exceptional  and  unexpected  that 
Paul  spoke  of  himself  as  "a  child  untimely  born."  If  the 
experiences  of  the  first  disciples  were  only  visions,  there 
is  no  reason  why  Paul  might  not  have  had  a  similar  ex- 
perience, or  why  any  other  Christian  in  all  time  to  come 
might  not  have  it.  Even  Paul's  experience  differed  from 
that  of  the  first  apostles  in  that  he  had  no  demonstration 
of  the  bodily  existence  of  the  risen  Jesus.  That  exist- 
ence apparently  terminated  at  the  end  of  the  forty  days 
during  which  Jesus  "showed  himself  alive  after  his  pas- 
sion by  many  proofs"  (Acts  1:3),  and  he  then  entered 
upon  the  spiritual  existence  of  the  other  world  that  he 
had  described  in  his  teaching  about  immortality. 

The  "vision  theory,"  accordingly,  fails  to  do  justice 
to  the  evidence  of  our  earliest  Christian  historical 
records;  and  therefore,  we  are  forced  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  only  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  resurrection 
faith  in  the  primitive  Christian  Church  is  the  resurrection 
fact.  The  first  Christians  believed  that  Jesus  had  risen 
from  the  dead,  not  because  some  of  them  had  visions  of 
him — visions  of  the  dead  have  been  common  enough  in 
all  ages — but  because  they  knew  the  empty  tomb  and 
the  bodily  appearances  of  Jesus  over  a  period  of  forty 
days  to  be  historical  events.  Comparisons  with  Oriental 
and  Classical  myths  of  dying  and  reviving  nature-gods 
are  out  of  place  here,  for  belief  in  Jesus'  resurrection 
was  not  a  gradual  growth  during  the  centuries  after 
Christianity  had  gone  out  into  Graeco-Roman  world,  but 
it  appeared  full  blown  on  the  third  day  after  the  cruci- 
fixion.    The  antiquity  of  the  Christian  records  leaves  no 


306  SPIRITISM  xiv 

room  for  a  process  of  myth-making,  and  mythical 
analogies  are  useful  only  when  incidents  are  themselves 
proved  to  be  mythical. 

This  stupendous  event  of  Jesus'  resurrection  was  the 
appropriate  culmination  of  his  life  and  of  his  teaching. 
He  claimed  to  be  the  "Son  of  God,"  and  as  such  to  be 
the  "Messiah."  "He  was  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God 
with  power,  according  to  the  spirit  of  holiness,  by  the 
resurrection  from  the  dead"  (Rom.  1:4).  He  was  re- 
jected by  the  Jewish  authorities  as  an  imposter;  but  "this 
Jesus  did  God  raise  up  .  .  .  and  made  him  both  Lord 
and  Christ"  (Acts  2:22-36).  He  taught  that  the  way 
of  self-renunciation  was  the  only  way  to  self-realisation 
— "He  that  findeth  his  life  shall  lose  it,  but  he  that  loseth 
his  life  shall  find  it" — and,  in  obedience  to  this  law,  he 
went  to  the  cross.  If  the  cross  had  been  the  end,  Jesus' 
life  would  have  closed  in  apparent  failure,  and  men 
would  never  have  known  whether  he  triumphed,  and 
whether  his  rule  of  life  were  true;  but  through  the  resur- 
rection it  was  proved  that,  because  "he  humbled  himself, 
becoming  obedient  even  unto  death,  yea  the  death  of  the 
cross,  therefore  also  God  highly  exalted  him,  and  gave 
him  the  name  which  is  above  every  name,  that  in  the 
name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow,  of  things  in  heaven 
and  things  on  earth  and  things  under  the  earth,  and  that 
every  tongue  should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord, 
to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father"  (Phil.  2:8-11).  Jesus 
taught  the  immortality  of  every  human  soul,  and  he  gave 
the  supreme  evidence  of  immortality  by  showing  himself 
alive  after  his  passion.  Therefore,  the  faith  of  the  early 
Christian  Church  in  immortality  rested  not  so  much  upon 
Jesus'  teaching  as  upon  the  fact  of  his  resurrection.  "God 
hath  begotten  us  unto  a  living  hope  by  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead."  "He  hath  abolished  death, 
and  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  through  the 
gospel."  "If  we  believe  that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again, 
even  so  them  also  that  are  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus  will 


xiv  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  307 

God  bring  with  him."  "God  both  raised  the  Lord,  and 
will  raise  up  us  through  his  power."  "If  Christ  be 
preached  that  he  hath  been  raised  from  the  dead,  how 
say  some  among  you  that  there  is  no  resurrection  of  the 
dead."  "Now  hath  Christ  been  raised  from  the  dead, 
the  firstfruits  of  them  that  are  asleep."  "He  that  raised 
up  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  raise  up  us  also  with  Jesus."  "If 
the  Spirit  of  him  that  raised  up  Jesus  from  the  dead  dwell 
in  you,  he  that  raised  up  Christ  Jesus  from  the  dead  shall 
give  life  also  to  your  mortal  bodies  through  his  spirit 
that  dwelleth  in  you."  31 

"I   Pet.    1:3;    II   Tim.    1:10;    I   Thes.    4:14;    I   Cor.    6:14;    15:12,   20;    II   Cor. 
4:14;    Rom.    8.11. 


INDEX 


Aalu,  109;  see  Earn 

Abaddon,  270 

Abeghian,  M.,  68n 

Abel,   99:1 

Abode  of  the  dead,  35-39,  92-113, 
165-175,  205-207,  215-223, 
138  f;  see  Spirits,  dwelling- 
place 

Abraham's  tomb,  251,  260 

Absalom,  235 

Abydos,  152  f.,  168  f.,  171 

Achaeans,    63 

Achan,  235 

Achilles,  6,  8,  74,  78,  81,  93,  117, 
131  f.,  136 

Adam,  James,   no 

Adapa,  219,  222 

Adjuration   of  demons,   164  f.,   230 

Adoption  of  sons,  72,  73,  225,  255 

^dui,  130 

y£gean  civilisation,  63 

yElius  Spartianus,  7 

^neas,   76,   83,   97,   103,   106,    136 

^neas  Sylvius,  98 

/Eneid,  81  n.,  83,  84  n.,  97,  103, 
106,  136,  143 

^schylus,  87,  93,   101 

Afringan,    144 

Agni,    68,    108 

Agriculture,  67 

Agrippina,    88 

Ahhazu,  213 

Ahhotep,    180 

Ahimelech,   266 

Ahmose,    180,    197 

Ahriman,  77,   112,  280 

Ahura  Mazda,  77,  112,  280 

Alexander,  237,  285 

Alexandrian  school,  285-289 

Algonkins,    129 

Allen,    Grant,    14 

Allopathic   remedies,  229 

All  Saints'  Day,  140,  147 

All  Souls'  Day,   146  f. 

Altar,  45,   51   f.,   103,  225 

Althaea,    87 


Amenhotep  I,  180,  194;  II,  191; 
III,  155,  167,  191;  IV,  175; 
son  of  Hapi,  176 

Amenri,   109,  170 

Amon,    161 

Amos,  268  f. 

Amulets,    192,  251 

Ananikian,  M.   H.,  ix 

Ancestors,  69,  71,  114;  ones  that 
are  worshipped,  41,  114;  of 
reigning  dynasty,  41 ;  ennobled 
after  death,  42;  worship  of, 
see  cult  of  dead 

Ancus,  103 

Andromache,   118 

Angels,    280,    293;    guardian,    155, 

293 

Angro-mainyu,  280 

Anima,    70 

Animals,  possessed  by  spirits,  see 
Spirits  possess  animals;  buried 
with  owners,  47,  49,  131  f., 
209 ;   perceive  spirits,  204 

Animism,  15,  68 

Animus,   70 

'Ankh,  155 

Anniversary  of  burial,   145 

Annyn,   106 

Anses,   71 

Antelopes    for   the    dead,    157 

Anthesteria,   145  f. 

Anu,  213,   220 

Anunnaki,  219  f.,  220,  222 

Apocalypse  of  Baruch,  284 

Apollo,  83 

Apparitions,  see  Spirits  appear 

Appius,  79 

Arabs,  200-202,  203,  204,  205,  206, 
207,   208,   209 

Aralu,  170,  215-223,  240 

Aramaeans,  200,  203 

Arawn,  92,   106 

Argus,   87 

Aristion,  301 

Aristophanes,   141 

Armenians,  61,  145 


309 


3io 


INDEX 


Armour,   47,  133,  224 

Arthur,  King,  96,  no  f. 

Aryans,  60;  civilisation  of,  66 

Asa,  254 

Ashakku,  213 

Ashes  in  mourning,  n,  117,  250 

Ashurbanipal,   206,   211,   226 

Asklepeios,    97,    176 

Assistants  of  Heaven,  43 

Astaka,   146 

Asushunamir,  222 

Atharva   Veda,   68   n.,  76,   124,   144 

Athenaeus,  141 

Athenodorus,  88 

Attila,  65,  136 

Augury,  see  Spirits  control  objects, 

plants,  animals 
Augustine,  71,   90  n. 
Avallon,   no 
Avernus,    83 
Avesta,    60,    68  n.,    69,    72,    73,    77, 

108,  112,  I2i,  124,  126,  137,  148 

f.,  280 
Azazel,  262 


Ba,  95,   154  f.,   165  f,   171 

Ba'al,   29,   273,  258  f. 

Babylonians,  200-202,  203,  204,  205, 
206,  207,  208,  209,  211-231;  in- 
fluence on  Hebrews,  240-247 

Baedeker,  181,  188  n.,  189  n.,  195  n. 

Balaam,  204 

Ban,   139 

Barrett,  L.  C,  ix 

Barrows,   104,  131 

Barth,  A.,  68  n.,  108  n. 

Easar,  200,  232 

Bats,  25,  96 

Beans  for  the  dead,  138,  146 

Bear,  24 

Beer  for  the  dead,  52,  139,  157-159, 
166,  189,  198  f. 

Beggars  fed   at  funerals,   80 

Bekhten,  161,  164  f. 

Bel,  219,  f. 

Belial,  243 

Belit-seri,  221 

Ben,  "186 

Benefactors   deified,  42 

Benihassan,    153,    188 

Benzinger,   10 

Beowulf,   128 

Betk-el,  235,  252 
Bkuts,  76,  85 

Biban  el-Muluk,  189,  194  f. 


Bier,  43,  118,  119,  121,  122,  131, 
132,   251 

Birds  possessed  by  spirits,  25,  73, 
74,  76>  95,  J62,  173,  203,  217, 
227,  242;  omens  from,  95;  sac- 
rifice of,  199 

Black  animals  sacrificed  to  the 
dead,  74,  137,  151 

Blood,  seat  of  soul,  201,  233  f.,  261 ; 
sacrificed  to  the  dead,  11,  13, 
72  f.,  140,  151,  209,  261  f. ;  see 
Sacrifice 

Boar,  25 

Boat  over  Styx,  see  Ferryman 

Body,  relation  to  Spirit,  see  Spirits, 
relation  to  body ;  prison  of 
soul,  99,  286,  295 

Boghazkeui,   61,   62 

Bohemians,  62 

Bones,  occupied  by  spirits,  3,  103 ; 
painted  red,  3  ;  see  Spirits,  re- 
lation to  body 

Book  of  Him  Who  is  in  the  Nether 
World,  153,  190  f. 

Book  of  the  Dead,  154,  162,  164, 
174,   183,  191-193 

Bor,  241 

Bothros,   141  ;    see  Trench 

Brahmanas,   60 

Brahmans,  80,  98 

Bread,  for  dead,  120,  140,  157-159, 
166,   198  f. ;  of  life,  219 

Breast,  beating  on,  117 

Breaking  of  objects  for  dead,  209, 
251 

Breasted,  J.  H.,  ix,  153  f.,  158  n., 
159  n.,  161  n.,  166  n.,  167  n., 
168  n.,  176  n.,  179  n.,  181  n., 
182  n.,  188  n.,  195  n.,  196  n., 
197  n.,  198  n. 

Breath,  6,  74,  154,  200  f.,  202,  205, 
232  f.,  270;  of  dying  received 
by  relative,   117 

Bretons,  64 

Bridal  pitcher  on  grave,  134 

Briseis,    117 

British,  65 

Brittany,  104 

Bronze,  66 

Brynhild,  134 

Brythonic  Celts,  64 

Buchler,  248 

Budde,    235 

Buddhism,  98,  100 

Budge,   154 

Bulgarians,    63 


INDEX 


3ii 


Burial,  2,  12,  36,  46,  77,  88,  124-126, 
127,  202,  209,  224,  250;  nec- 
essity of,  see  Unburied;  im- 
portance of  correct  manner,  74, 
224;  place  of,  46,  129-131;  in 
houses,  44,  50,  102,  129,  253 ; 
by  roads,  130;  in  family  grave, 
37,  102,  239,  245;  refused  to 
criminals,  94,  239;  granted  to 
criminals,  239;  refused  to 
enemies,  93,  206  f.,  239;  re- 
fused to  suicides,  94;  granted 
to  suicides,  239;  of  souls,  37; 
see  Graves,  Tombs 

Burkhardt,  209  n. 

Burney,   232  n. 

Busiris,    169 

Byblos,    171 

By  water,  100  n. 

Caesar,   65,    101,    127,   132,    139 
Cakes  for    dead,   90,   97,    138,    140- 

142,  147  f,  199 
Canaanites,  200  f.,  240 
Canonical  Books,  Chinese,  16,  17  n., 

37. 
Canopic  jars,  178 
Carter,  J.  B.,  69  n. 
Catamaran,   173 
Cattle  for  the  dead,   132,    137,   158, 

199 
Caves  as  tombs,  44,  261 
Cecrops,  96 
Celts,     64,     75,     81,     84,     90,     92, 

95    f.,    101-104,    106,    no,    115, 

126,     127,     129,     130-133,     139, 

141.   147 
Cemeteries,   125,  127,   133,   183,   188, 

196 
Centum  group  of  languages,  61 
Ceremonial,   importance  of,   28,    56, 

79.  172 
Chadwick,  H.  M.,  69  n. 
Champollion,    154 
Chariots,    133 
Charlemagne,   128 
Charles,  R.  H.,  232  n.,  234  n.,  235, 

287  n. 
Charon,   in;    see  Ferryman 
Ch'eng-I,    55 
Cheops,  169,  185  f. 
Chi,  23 

Ch'i,  19,  20,  38,  39 
Chiao,  23,  52 
Children    given    by    ancestors,    91 ; 

necessary    for    cult,    225,    254; 


sacrificed  to  dead,  133;  killed 
to  punish  ancestors,  255,  see 
Son 

Chou-li,  17 

Ch'un-ch'iu,   17 

Chung-yung,  17 

Cicero,  73,  75,  125,  151 

Clairvoyance,  4,  30,  236;  see 
Medium 

Classics,  Chinese,  16,  17  n.,  37,  59 

Clay,  A.  T.,  225  n. 

Clennell,  W.  J.,   17  n. 

Cleomenes,   96 

Cleopas,  303 

Clothes  for  the  dead,  12,  39,  44,  47, 
72,  81,  119,  159  f.,  179,  189  f., 
224,  250 

Cock,   25 

Coffin,  121,  179,  182,  224,  251; 
Texts  in,  153,  162,  174,  189, 
192,   196 

Colebrooke,   121,   126,   144 

Comparative  religion,  1 

Compitalia,  78 

Confucius,  16,  19,  40,  42,  43,  48, 
5i,.  56,  57,  58 

Contagion,   214 

Copper,  66 

Cords,  tied  and  loosed  in  magic, 
228 

Cornelii,   125 

Cornish,   64 

Corporeal  existence  of  Dead  among 
Celts,  90,  92 

Corpse,  mutilation  of,  8,  35,  238; 
preparation  for  burial,  43,  116, 
118  f.,  178-183,  250;  unclean- 
ness  of,  12,  116,  119,  121,  214, 
238,  252;  see  Mummy,  Ex- 
posure, Burial,  Cremation 

Cossacks,  62 

Cremation,    12,   78,    126-129,   2°6 

Crocodile,  spirit,  162 

Cromlechs,  131 

Crooke,  W.,  68   n.,   82 

Crystal-gazing,    6 

Cult  of  the  dead,  in  primitive  re- 
ligion, 9-13;  in  China,  39-59; 
among  Indo-Europeans,  114- 
151;  in  Egypt,  175-199;  among 
Semites,  208-210;  in  Babylonia 
and  Assyria,  223-231;  in 
Israel,  248-256;  early  opposi- 
tion in  Israel,  257-263 ;  for- 
bidden by  Prophets  and  Law, 
268-274 


312 


INDEX 


Cuneiform,  211 

Curses  on  violators  of  tombs,   165, 

167  f. 
Curtiss,  209  n. 
Czechs,  62 

Daeva,   86 

Dahshur,   185 

Dakhmas,  86,  122,  126 

Dalmatians,  62 

Dancing,    53 

Danes,  65 

Daniel,  31  n.,  283  f. 

Dante,   276 

David,   266 

Davis,  C.  H.  S.,  154;  T.  M.,  191 

Dawn,  67 

Days  of  sacrifice  to  the  dead,  55, 
58,    142-147 

Dead,  see  Spirits  of  the  Dead 

Death,  1,  4,  12;  inevitableness  of, 
218  f.,  244;  eternal  sleep,  166, 
202,  278,  281,  283;  uncleanness 
of,  see  Corpse;  name  of  Un- 
derworld, 215,  240;  King  of 
Sheol,  243  ;   angels  of,  244 

Deborah,    252,    260 

Decius,    139 

Dedu,   169 

De  Groot,  J.  J.  M.,  17  n.,  18  n., 
20  n.,  24  n.,  27  n.,  32  n.,  35  n., 
37  n.,  39  n.,  44  n.,  49  n. 

Deification  of  dead,  See  Spirits 
deified 

Delitzsch,  219 

Demeter,  100 

Democratization  of  hereafter,  129, 
174,    182  f. 

De  Morgan,   152 

Der  el-Bahri,  179,  189,  194,  195 

Deuteronomy,  268,  276 

Devas,   114 

Devil,   280,  285 

Devotio,  139 

Deivat,  104,  170,  173  f.,  191,  193 

Dies  parentales,  145 
Diodorus  Siculus,  92,   102,   139 

Diogenes  Laertius,  141 

Dionysiac  cults,   99 

Dirges,    see   Laments 
Disease,    unclean,    236;    cured    by 
magic,      226-231;      see      Spirits 
obsess  men 

Disposal  of  the  dead,  see  Exposure, 
Burial,  Cremation. 


Divided  personality,  %2 

Dlugosz,  107 

Doctrine  of  the  Mean,  17,  20,  55  n. 

Dogs,  possessed,  98 ;  connected  with 
the  dead,  108,  123  f . ;  as  sacri- 
fices,  132,   190 

Dolmens,  2,  131 

Domestic  animals,  66 

Door  opened  at  death,  116 

Dore,  H.,  17  n.,  18  n.,  22  n.,  24  n., 
26  n.,  32  n.,  35  n.,  44  n.,  46  n., 
49  n. 

Double,  2,   5,   155 

Doughty,  206,  209  n. 

Draught-board   in  grave,   189 

Dreams,  3,  17,  31,  76,  80  f. 

Drink  for  the  dead,  3,  8,  28,  44,  53, 
120,  131-135,  I37-H7.  I57-IS9, 
160,   189-191,  204,  224,  251 

Drugs,  229 

Druids,  91,  101 

Du,    154 

Ducks,  26 

Duhm,  282  f. 

Dungi,  223   f.,  225 

Dusii,    71,    90 

Dust  in  mourning,  11,  117,  208  f., 
250 

Dutch,   65 

Dwelling-place  of  dead,  see  Abode 

Dying,  treatment  of,  43,   116 

Ea,  226-228,  213,  231 

Eabani,  see  Enkidu 

Eannatum,  206 

Earth,  name  of  Underworld,  215, 
241 

Earu,  109,   170 

East,  region  of  life,  170,  173,  183, 
216 

Echo,  6,  204  f. 

Ecstasy,  29,  83 

Edda,   128 

Edkins,  J.,  17  n. 

Eetion,   76 

Eggs  for  dead,  140 

Egypt,  pre-dynastic,  152,  178,  183, 
189;  old  empire,  152,  160,  168, 
178,  181,  184,  188-190,  198; 
middle  empire,  153,  156,  162, 
168,  180,  182,  187  f.,  190,  194, 
new  empire,  153,  160,  162,  183, 
188  f.,  190-193;  period  of  de- 
cline, 154,  57;  spiritism  in,  152- 
199 


INDEX 


3i3 


Eisenmenger,  242 

Ekimmu,  see  Etimmu 

Eleusinian  mysteries,  100 

"Elevation  of  fathers,"  144 

Elijah,   244,   247,   280 

Elisha,  247,  280 

Elon,   252 

Elpenor,  73 

Elysium,  109  f. 

Embalming,  see  Mummy 

Embryonic    position    of    corpse,    2, 

119,  178,  183,  201,  250 
Empedocles,   99,    101 
Emperor-worship,    see    Kings,    cult 

of 
Endowments  for  the  dead,  167-169, 

197  f. 
Enki,  see  Ea 
Enkidu,  151,  204,  205,  206,  208,  210, 

215,  220,  221,  231 
Enlil,  224 
Enoch,  244;  chaps.   1-36,  284,  287; 

chaps.   37-71,   287;   chaps.   102- 

104,  287 
Erebus,    83,   86,   91 
Erechtheus,  96 
Ereshkigal,  218  f.,  221 
Erinyes,   87,   95 
Erman,   153,   158  n.,   164  n.,  165  n., 

192,   196  n. 
Esdras   II,  284 
Essenes,  286 
Etana,  221 

Etimmu,  201,  202,  205 
Euhemerus,    14 

Eulogy  of  the  dead,  122,  135,  136 
Euripides,  93,  101,  151 
Evil   spirits,   28,    58,    59,  76,   77,  86, 

164   f.,   208,   212-215,   218,    230, 

243 
Ewald,  9 
Exorcism,  58,  76,  164  f.,  203  f.,  212, 

226-231 
Exposure  of  dead,  93,  122-124,  239 
Eyes  of  corpse  closed,  44,  118 
Ezagulis,    147 
Ezekiel,    268,    274;    his    theory    of 

retribution,  276,  279 

Fairbanks,  A.,   69  n. 
False  door,  45,  187,  194 
Familiar   spirit,   210,   236,  256,   259 
Family,  cult  of  dead,    115;   buried 

together,   37,    102,   239,   245 
Farnell,  L.  R.,  68  n.,  69  n. 


Farvardigan,  146 

Fasting,    n,   33,    50,   209,   250 

Fear  of  the  dead,  see  Spirits  obsess 

men 
Feasts  of  the  dead,  13,  54,  79,  135  f., 

142-149,  254 
Feet   of   corpse    toward    door,    119, 

122 
Fen,  45 
Feng-shui,  46 
Feralia,   145    f. 
Ferryman    of    dead,    in,    158,    170, 

173,  217,  242;   see  Charon 
Festus,   78 

Fetish,  see  Spirits  occupy  objects 
Field  of  Rushes,    170 
Filial    piety,   40,    55,    57,   79,    197    f. 
Fire     for     spirits,     147,     198;     see 

Lights,  Lamps;  god  of,  68 
Firstborn,  254;   see  Son 
Fish  for  the  dead,  53,  165 
Flamen  Dialis,  139 
Flemings,  65 
Flesh,   200,  232;   cut  for   dead,    10, 

117,  208,  249,  274 
Flood,  219 

Flowers,  for  dead,  73,  79,  135,  140 
Follower,    71 
Food,  for  the  dead,  3,  8,  12,  28,  44, 

47.  49.  53.  72,  97.  120,  131-135. 

I37-J47.    I57"I59,    160,    189-191 

201,   204,   206,   224,  230  f.,   251, 

254 

Fore-boding  of  the  future,  6,  31, 
82,  236 

Forefathers,   see   Ancestors 

Fortieth  day   after  burial,   143,   145 

Fowler,  W.  W.,  69  n. 

Foxes,    25 

Fragments  of  food  left  for  friend- 
less dead,  141 

Fravasliis,   69,   72,  73,   91,   137,    148 

Frazer,  10  f.,  172 

Frisians,   65 

Fruit  for  dead,  35,  78,  137,  140,  199 

Furniture  for  the  dead,  189-191, 
193 

Future  life,  resembles  the  present, 
72,  92,  157-159,  221;  general 
estimate  of,  8,  91  f.,  207  f., 
264;  see  Immortality,  Hades, 
Paradise 

Gaels,  64 
Gaius,    88 


314 


INDEX 


Galba,  89 

Games  at  funerals,  97,  136,  143 

Garments,  removed  in  mourning,  9, 
248 ;   rent,  248 ;  see  Clothes 

Garstang,    152   n. 

Gat  has,  61 

Gebal,  171 

Geese  for  tke  dead,  158  f.,  199 

Gehenna,  107 

Genius,  70,   155 

Germans,  65 

Ghosts,  5,  7-9,  27,  32,  36,  71,  74-77, 
85-93,  i°4  i;  146  f-,  203-206, 
208,  212,  221,  237,  256;  see 
Spirits   appear 

Gifts,  see  Offerings 

Giles,  H.  A.,  16  n.,  17  n. 

Gilgamesh,  151,  204,  205,  206, 
208,  210,  215,  216  f.,  219,  220, 
221,  222,  231;  Epic  of,  204, 
208  n.,  210,  215  f.,  218  f., 
221    n.,  231 

Gimil-Sin,  223  f.,  225 

Giraldus,  84 

Gizeh,  186 

Gladiatorial  games  at  funerals, 
136 

Glaphyra,  237 

Glorious  one  =  spirit,  156,  160 

Goats   as  sacrifices,    199 

God,  in  Chinese  religion,  39;  Indo- 
European  names,  67;  in  O.  T. 
see  Yahweh;  in  teaching  of 
Jesus,  290-292;  Father  of 
Jesus,  290;  Father  of  all  men, 
290;  meaning  of  fatherhood, 
291  f . ;  love  of,  292,  294  f. 

Gods,  help  against  evil  spirits,  208, 
212,  226;  bring  men  ba-ck  from 
Sheol,  221  f. ;  do  not  rule  in 
Sheol,  208 ;  can  empty  Sheol, 
223 

Gog,   60 

Goidelic  Celts,  64 

Gold,  with  dead,  125,  132,  180;  see 
Treasure 

Golden  Age,   108,   171 

Golther,  W.,  69  n. 

Gorgons,   87 

Goths,  71 

Grain,  for  the  dead,  79,  137,  159, 
199 

Grandfathers,  title  of  dead,  71,  114, 
115,   142,   148   f.,   150 

Granger,  F.,  69  n.,  97  n.,  103  n., 
104  n.,  122 


Graves,  7,  12,  44  f.,  130  f,  183, 
251;  dwelling  place  of  spirits, 
see  Spirits;  places  of  cult,  102, 

140,  194,  251;  of  heroes,  102; 
protected  by  stones,  207 ;  en- 
closed, 209;  as  holy  places  of 
Yahweh,  261;  unclean,  252, 
273  ;  see  Burial,  Tombs 

Grave-court,  45 

Grave-hall,  45 

Gravestone,    22,    39,    45,    75,    203; 
see    Stones 

Great  Pyramid,   169,  185  J. 

Great  Russians,   62,    115,   133 

Greeks,  63,  69,  70,  72,  73,  74,  76, 
77,  82,  86,  87,  90,  91,  93,  96, 
99-103,  105,  109,  no,  ii2,  113, 
114,  115,  116,  117,  118,  119, 
120,  121,  122,  123,  124,  125, 
126,  127,  129,  130,  131,  132,  134, 

135.    136,    i37»    138,    139,    140, 

141,  145,  146,  149,  150;  in- 
fluence on  Judaism,  285-289 

Griineisen,  232  n. 
Guerinot,   232   n. 
Gummere,  F.  B.,  69  n. 
Gunkel,   241   n. 

Habakkuk,   268 

Hades,  74,  78,  81,  87,  89,  92,  93, 
99,  105-107,  123;  see  Aralu, 
Dewat,  Orcus,  Sheol 

Hadrian,  7 

Hair  cut  in  mourning,  11,  131,  208, 
249 ;  loosed  in  mourning,  44, 
117 

Halloween,   147 

Hallstatt,   127,   133 

Hamaspathmaedaya,  72,    146 

Haoma,  116 

Happiness  the  measure  of  good- 
ness, 278 

Hardedef,   169 

Hares,    possessed,    98 

Harkhuf,    159,    166 

Harper,  Song  of,  168 

Harpies,  74,  87,  95 

Harrison,  J.  E.,  69  n.,  78  n.,  87  n., 

9-7   "-.   99   "•>    146 
Hartland,  E.  S.,  120 
Hathor,    176 
Hatshepsut,   195 
Haunted   House,   88 
Haupt,  206 
Havgan,  106 
Head,  covered  in  mourning,  10,  249 


INDEX 


3i5 


Heart,  seat  of  soul,  70,  201,  233 

Hearth    as    place    of    sacrifice,    141 

Heaven,  37,  39,  41,  52,  67,  128,  172- 
175;  see  Avallon,  Elysium 
Paradise 

Hebrews,   200,  203 

Hebron,   251 

Hector,  8,   118 

Heir,  sacrifices  to  ancestors,  225; 
see    Son 

Hekate,   74,  77,   123 

Heliopolis,    172   f. 

Hell,  107,  112,  219,  276;  see  Tar- 
tarus,   Gehenna 

Hellenists,   see  Alexandrian   school 

Henderson,  G.,  69  n.,  75  n.,  96  n. 

Hepzefi,   198 

Heraclitus,    100 

Herakles,  78 

Hermes,  77,   123 

Herodotus,  80,  81  n.,  96,  122,  124, 
162,  180,   185,  224 

Heroes,  102  f.,  252 ;  worship  of, 
42  f.,   102  f.,  115,  176  f. 

Hesiod,   77,    112,    123 

Hezekiah,   246 

High  Ruler,   39 

Hilprecht,  216 

Hindus,  60,  69,  72,  74,  75,  76,  80, 
82,  85,  90,  93,  96,  98,  107,  108, 
112,  114,  115,  116,  120, 
121,    123,    124,    130,    131,    137, 

138,    139.    141.    143,    144.    145. 

146,    148,   149 
History  of  the  South,  34 
Hittites,   61 
Hole,  for  egress  of  spirit,  2  f,  104, 

160;     name     of     Underworld, 

215,   231,   241;    see  Pit 
Holiness  Code,  268,  276 
Holy,  253  ;  of  holies,  261 
Homer,  64,  69,  70,  78,  90,  91,  105, 

112,    122    f.,    129    f.,    135;    see 

Iliad,  Odyssey 
Homoeopathic  remedies,  229 
Honey   for   the   dead,    13,    97,    132, 

137  f.,   165,   199,  225 
Hopkins,  E.  W.,  17  n.,  68  n.,  124  n., 

129  n. 
Horace,    103,   151 
Horus,   158,   171,   178,   192;   eye  of, 

171,   192 
Hosea,  268 
Hotephiryakhet,    182 
Houses  abandoned  to  the  dead,  44, 

50 


Hou-tsi,  43 
Hrihor,    166 
Hrozny,   F.,  61 
Hsiao-king,  41   n. 
Huber,   224 
Hun,  19 
Huns,   19,   65 
Huts,    45 
Hyenas,  25 
Hypnotism,   4,   29,   82 

Ibi-Sin,  223,  225 

Ibn-Dustah,    127 

Ibn-Fadhlan,    127,  134 

Ibzan,    252 

Icelanders,  65 

I-li,  17,  46 

Iliad,   74   n.,    76    n.,    78    n.,    81    n., 

87  "-,  93.  95  "-.  "7-H9,  "3. 
127,  132,  136 

Images  occupied  by  spirits,  75, 
160  {.,  165,  169,  184,  1 83,  203, 
228,  235;  of  things  for  the 
dead,  48,   158,   189-192,  251 

Imhotep,  169,  176 

Imitations,   see   substitutes 

Immortality,  in  primitive  religion, 
2-4,  208;  in  China,  18  f . ; 
among  Indo-Europeans,  68-72; 
in  Egypt,  154-157;  among 
Semites,  201 ;  among  Babylo- 
nians, 211  ff . ;  in  Israel,  233; 
denied  by  Prophets  and  Law, 
273>  275  f-i  *n  Judaism,  280- 
289;  denied  by  resurrection, 
283-285;  in  Greek  thought,  99- 
101,  285-289;  combined  with 
resurrection,  286-288;  theories 
in  time  of  Christ,  288  f. ;  in 
the  teaching  of  Jesus,  290-307; 
in  Christian  Church,  288, 
297  f.,  306  f. ;   see  Future  life 

Impersonator,  28,  49,  54,  80,  122 

Implements  for  dead,  119,  133,  135, 
251 

Incense,  52,  157,  176,   199,  209,  254 

Incubi,  90 

India,  see   Hindus 

Individualism,  276  f. 

Indo-Europeans,  distribution  and 
characteristics,  60;  primitive 
civilisation,  66 

Indra,   67,    112 

Inferi,  70,   141.   145 

Insanity,  see  Spirits  obsess  men 

Inspiration,  see  spirits  possess  men 


3i6 


INDEX 


Intef,   156,    169 

Invitation   to   ancestors,    148 

Invocation  of  gods  against  spirits, 

226 
Invoker,  57 
Io,    87 
Ionians,  63 
Iranians,  60 
Irish,   64 
Irkalla,  218 
Isaiah,  chaps.  1-32,  268 ;  chaps,  24- 

27,   283 ;   chaps.  40-55,   268 
Ishtar,   207   n.,   215,  216,   217,   218, 

219,  220,  221  n.,  222 
Isidore,  71,  90  n. 
Isis,   158,   171,   183,   196 
Islands  of  Blessed,  111 

Jackals,  25 

Jackson,  A.  V.  W.,  68  n. 

Jacob,  245 

Jacobus,  M.  W.,  ix 

Jade,  52,  53 

Jair,   252 

James,   302,   303 

Jars  as  coffins,  77,  121,  224 

Jastrow,  10  f.,  201  n.,  203,  208  n., 
209  n.,  212  n.,  215,  225  n., 
229  n.,  248  f. 

Jensen,  215,  217,  222  n. 

Jesus,  religious  experience,  290; 
unique  sonship,  290;  taught 
fatherhood  of  God,  290  f. ; 
revealed  love  of  God,  292; 
taught  men  are  sons  of  God, 
290-293 ;  taught  value  of  soul, 
292  f. ;  taught  immortality, 
293-297;  attitude  toward  Sad- 
ducees,  294  f. ;  toward  Phari- 
sees, 295;  toward  Alexandri- 
ans, 295  f. ;  teaching  about 
resurrection,  295-297;  highest 
teaching  on  immortality,  297; 
his  death,  299;  his  resurrec- 
tion,  298-307 

Jequier,  153  n.,  191 

Jeremiah,  237,  268,  274,  277 

Jeremias,  206,  215,  217,  219,  221 

Jevons,  xi,  253  n. 

Jewelry  with  dead,  47,  53,  119, 
180,  224;  see  Ornaments, 
Treasures 

Jinn,  202,  203,  205 

Joanna,  301 

Job,  278  f.,  280-283 

John,  303  f. 


Jordanis,  71 

Joseph,  31  n.,  245,  252,  260 

Josephus,    177,   237,   254,    286 

Josiah,  256 

Judas  Maccabeus,   237 

Judgment,  Day  of,  287  f.,  298 

Jugo-Slavs,  62 

Jullian,    C,    139 

Juno,  70 

Ka,  2,  5,  70,  155  f,  158 

Kadesh,   252 

Kadhosh,  253 

Kamphausen,  9 

K'ang  Tzu-kao,  48 

Karma,  98 

Kautzsch,  287  n. 

Ker,  70,  77,  78,   146 

Kerberos,  123,  138 

Khafre,   186 

Kheti,  195 

Khonsu,  161,   164  f. 

Khu,  156 

Khufu,    169,    185 

Kigal,  215  f. 

King  of   Underworld,    171    f.,   218, 

243 

King,  L.  W.,  212  n.,  216,  221  n., 
225  n.,  226  n. 

Kings,  deified  during  life,  175  f., 
223;  after  death,  175  f.,  223, 
225  f.,  252;  life  in  other 
world,  37  f.,  157  f.,  174 

Korah,  241 

Koran,  see  Qur'an 

Krauss,  F.  S.,  69  n. 

Kiichler,  212  n. 

Kuei,  18,  38 

Kuei-shen,  18,  39 

Labartu,  213 

Lacau,   183 

Ladder  of  sun-god,  173 

Laments,    13,   20,  44,    57,    117,    118, 

196,  210,  225,   255   f. 
Lamps  for  the  dead,  251 ;  see  Fires, 

Lights 
Langdon,  212  n.,  224  n.,  225  n. 
Larentalia,  71,  146  f. 
Lares,  70,  78,  130,  146 
Larva,  71,  146 
Lascowski,  98 
Lasicius,  98,  147 
La<w  of  Twelve   Tables,   125,   127, 

130 
Laying  out  of  corpse,   119,  120 


INDEX 


3T7 


Lebadea,  97 

Leger,  L.,  69  n. 

Legge,  J.,  17  n.,  21  n.,  37  n.,  55  n. 

Lehmann,  E.,  68  n. 

Lekythoi,  135 

Lemuria,  138,  146,  149 

Letters,  sent  to  the  dead,  92,  164 

Letts,  62,  63 

Levirate   marriage,    294 

Levitation,   4,    32 

Leyrer,  9 

Libations,    see    water,    milk,    beer, 

wine,  liquors;  13,  137  f.,  139  f., 

143   f.,   199,  225  f.,  230  f. 
Life,    length   desired,   264  f. 
Lights     for    dead,     120,     144;     see 

Fires,  Lamps 
Lightning,    68 
Li-ki,   16,   17  n.,   19,  38,  42,  46,  48, 

51,    52,    56,    58 
Lily  Lake,   173 
Lippert,  97  n. 
Liquors,    distilled,    133 
Lithuanians,    62,    63,    97,    127,    133, 

142,   145,  148,   150 
Little  Russians,  62 
Livy,   79  n. 
Lods,  232  n. 
Lohr,  267  n. 
Lots,  23,  75 
Loutrophoros,  134 
Lucan,  83,  92,  102,  106 
Lucian,  14,  88,  151. 
Luke,  299^  301,  303 
Lun-yii,  17,  48  n. 

Macbain,  A.,  69  n.,  124  n. 

Maccabees  IV,  286 

Macculloch,    J.    A.,    69    n.,    85    n., 

96  n.,  133  n.,  140  n.,  147  n. 
Mace,   152  n. 
Maciver,  152  n. 
Macrobius,    105 
Maelduin,  voyage  of,  95 
Maelsuthain,   96 
Magi,  122,   124 
Magic,    sympathetic    190;    for    the 

dead,     166,     172;     objects     in 

graves. 
Mahabharata,  60,  76,  124 
Maleki,  63 

Mammetu,  219  f.,  222 
Manasseh,   256 
Manes,  70,  73,  75,  78,  79,  106,  114- 

116,  139,  143,  145  f- 
Manetho,  152,  177 


Mannhardt,  J.  W.  E.,  69  n. 

Manu,  Laws  of,  60,   114,  137 

Manx,  64 

Marduk,  221,  226-228 

Margoliouth,  232  n.,  254  n. 

Mariette,  153 

Mark,  298,   300,  301,  303 

Marriage  with  dead,  92,  134 

Mary   Magdalene,   303 

Masks,  75,   103,   122 

Maspero,  153,  201  n. 

Masseba,  203   235,   273 

Masiaba,  160,  184,  188,  189 

Mas'udi,  127,  134 

"Materialisation"  of  spirits,  34,  85 

Matthew,  300  303 

Mausolea,  44,  131 

Mead  for  the  dead,   138 

Meal  for  the  dead,  13,  137 

Meat  for  the  dead,  198 

Mediterranean,  sea,  216,  217;  race, 

63,  7° 

Mediums,  29,  59,  82,  84,  85,  165, 
203,  221,  259 

Mekhu,   178 

Meletius,  63 

Melissa,  80,  81 

Men,  the  children  of  God,  291  f. 

Mencius,  17,  51 

Menecius,  J.,  63,  69  n.,  97,  142,  148, 
150 

Menes,  152,  169,  184 

Menelaus,    109 

Menkure,   186 

Mercer,   224  n. 

Merneptah,   193 

Messiah,  287 

Metempsychosis,  see  Transmigra- 
tion 

Meyer,  E.,  68  n.,  129;  E.  H.,  69  n. 

Micah,  268 

Milk  for  the  dead,  13,  137  f.,  199, 
209 

Mind-reading,  30,  82 

Minerva,  69 

Ming,  19,    38 

Ming  dynasty  tombs,  45 

Minister  of  Ritual,  56 

Miracles,  31 

Miriam,  252,  260 

Mirrors,  for  the  dead,  224 

Mitanni,  62 

Mithra,  62 

Models,  see  images 

Money  with  dead,  44,  119 

Monolatry,   257   f. 


3i8 


INDEX 


Monotheism,  257  f.,  269 

Montenegrins,   62 

Moon,   67 

Moore,  C.  H.,  69  n.;  G.  F.,  17  n., 

68  n. 
Morality  and  Sacrifice,  56 
Moravians,  62 
Moret,  161 
Mortuary    chapel,     160,     187,    189, 

194,   197 
Mosaism,  257 
Motion   of   spirit,    5 
Motor-antomatism,  6 
Moulton,  J.  H.,  68  n. 
Mound,  45,  130,  251;  see  Tumulus 
Mourners,    professional,    117,     196, 

255 

Mourning,  rites  of,  41,  50,  117,  118, 
195  £.,  208,  248-250,  255,  262  f. ; 
made  one  unclean,  262  f. ;  for- 
bidden by  Prophets  and  Law, 
273 

Mouth,  objects  placed  in,  44,  119 

Mu,  45 

Much,  R.,   128 

Miiller,  S.,  128;  W.  M.,  157,  169  n. 

Muhammad,  202 

Mummy,  12,  160,  163,  165,  168, 
179-181;  restoration  of,  166; 
of  Kings,   179  f. 

Mundus,   105  f.,   141 ;   see  Trench 

Music,  for  the  dead,  28,  53  ;  instru- 
ments of,  48 

Mut,  158 

Mycenaean   age,   103,   121,   125,   131 

Nabal,  266 

Naboth,   266 

Nahum,    268 

Nakedness,  9,  19,  208,  248 

Name,  controls  demon,  230 

Namtaru,  218  f. 

Naram-Sin,   223 

Nature-gods  of  Indo-European,  67 

Nav,  107 

Naville,  154,  157  n.,  164 

Nazirites,  250,   253,  274 

Necromancy,    13,    88,    150    f.,    210, 

221,  231,  256,  259 
Neferhotep,   156 
Nefesh,  200  f.,  202,  203,  232  f.,  253, 

270 
Nekhtioker,  169 
Nekonekh,  199 
Nekues,  70 


Neolithic  age,  2,  131,  135 

Ner,  221 

Nergal,   218,   231 

Nero,  88 

Nesha,  161 

Newberry  188  n. 

Nezemib,   182,  197 

Nibelungenlied,   128 

Night,    time    when    ghosts    appear, 

86,  89 
Ninth  day  after  burial,   142-145 
Nirvana,   100 
Noah,  219 

Nodding  images,   161 
Noldeke,    202    n.,    204    n.,    207    n., 

209  n. 
Noon,  time  when  ghosts  appear,  85, 

89   _ 
Norwegians,   65 
Nourse,    E.   E.,    ix 
Novendialis,  143 
Nowack,   235 
Numa,    125 


Obadiah,  268 

'Obh,  236 

Obsession,  see  Spirits  obsess 

Odoacer,   65 

Odhin,   in 

Odysseus,  73,  86,   87,  90,   in,   137, 

141,  150 
Odyssey,   73,   74  n.,   81    n.,   86,    90, 

105,    106,    109,    112,    123,    137, 

141,   150 
CEdipus,  87 
Oefele,  212  n. 
Offerings,  in  grave,  3,  12  f.,  37,  44, 

46,    131,    158   f.,    184,   201,   233, 

239»    254- ;    on    grave,    45,    51, 

102    f.,    137-140,    158    f.,    197- 

199,  212,  225  f.,  239,  254;   for 

dead    who    have    no    kin,    116; 

see     Sacrifice ;     restriction     of, 

125,   132,   135 
Oil  for  the  dead,  132 
Ointment  for  dead,  159,  224 
Onias,  237 
Orcus,    76,    105    f.,    125,    143;    see 

Hades 
Ormazd,  280 
Ornaments  with  dead,  12,  119,  131, 

133.  135.  167,  189,  193  f.,  251; 

see  Jewelry 
Orphism,  99  f.,  105 


INDEX 


3i9 


Osiris,  158  f.,  169,  171  f.,  173,  183, 
192,  196;  identified  with  wor- 
shipper, 172,  174,  181;  his  re- 
ligion, 169  f.,  174 

Os  resectum,  103,   126 

Otho,   89 

Ovid,  78,  89,   138,  146 

Owls,  25;  203  f.,  205,  212  n. 

Paleolithic  cave-dwellers,   2 

Palettes  for  dead,  189 

Pandora,   77 

P'an-keng,  23 

Papias,  301 

Papyrus,  Abbott,   193 

Paradise,  95,  107-111,  219,  287;  see 

Elysium,    Heaven,    Valhalla 
Parents,  71 ;  see  Ancestors 
Parsees,  61,  122 
Patriarchal   organization,  67 
Patroclus,    6,    78,    81,    93,    117,    127, 

131,   136 
Paul,  284,  296  f.,  298,  299  f.,  302, 

303,  305 

Pausanias,  81  n.,   132,  140 

Paynozem   I,    166 

Pectorals  on  mummies,  192 

Pelasgians,   63 

Penelope,   81 

Pepi  I,   173   f;   II,   179 

Perfume  for  dead,  179 

Periander,   80,  81 

Pcrkunas,  68 

Persians,  60,  69,  72,  73,  74,  77,  86, 
91,  93,  108,  109,  112,  115, 
116,  121,  124,  126,  137,  139, 
144,  148,  149 ;  influence  on 
Jews,  280  f. 

Personators,  see  Impersonator,  28 

Peter,  298,  299,  301,  302;  of  Dus- 
burg,  69  n.,   127 

Peters,    J.   P.,    201    n.,    224    n. 

Petrie,  W.   F.,    152  n.,   185 

Pharaohs,  descended  from  the  sun- 
god,    173,    175 

Pharisees,  277,  284 

Pheasants,  26 

Phigalia,   81 

Philo,  Alexandrinus,  286;  Byblius, 

14 

Phocion,  129 
Phrygians,   61 
Pinda  114,  138,  148 
Pindar,   101 
Piidciia,  85 


Piso,    151 

Pit,  =  Underworld,  241,  245  f . ;  see 

Trench 
Pilar  as,  69,  71,  90,  91,   108,   114  f., 

124,  138,   144,   148 
Pit  hoi,  121 
Places  of  sacrifice  to  dead,  140-142, 

194  f . ;   see   Graves 
Planchette,    23 

Plants   occupied   by   spirits,   76 
Plato,  77,  99,   101,   130,  163,  285  f., 

295 
Plautus,   95 
Pliny,   88,  97,   125,   138 
Plutarch,   79   n.,   96,    106,    118,    130, 

171 
Pneuma,  69 
P'o,  19,  20,  38 
Poles,   62 
Polybius,   80  n. 
Polydaemonism,    15,    68 
Polydorus,   76,    103,    136 
Polyxene,   134 

Pomponius  Mela,  106,  127,  132 
Porter,  see  Watchman,  Kerberos 
Possession  by  spirits,  6,  27,  28,  80- 

Potitii,   79 

Praeneste,  75 

Praetorius,  M.,  63,  69  n. 

Prayer,  to  the  dead,  13,  28,  56,  144, 
147-150,  202,  209,  255;  for  the 
dead,  73,  158  f . ;  officer  of,  28 

Prediction,  see   Foreboding 

Prescriptions  for  sick,  226 

Preta,  85,  144 

Priam,    118 

Priests,  of  the  dead,  197;  abstain 
from  mourning,   249,  253,  274 

Procession,  funeral,  121,  122 

Propertius,    89 

Prophets,  of  Israel,  29,  268  f . ;  for- 
bidden to  mourn,  274 

Proetus,   109 

Prussians,   62,  63,    127,   142,   145 

Psalms,  286 

Psuche,  69,  91 

Psychomancy,  see  Necromancy 

Ptahshepses,   159 

Ptolemy,   96 

Pu,  22 

Punishments,  265,  275,  287  f.,  298 

Purim,  146 

Pur-Sin,  223,  225 

Pushan,  108 


320 


INDEX 


Pwyll,   92,    106 

Pyramidion,  182,   186,  192 

Pyramids,  168  f.,  172,  184-188; 
emblem  of  sun,  186;  Texts  in, 
i53>  155,  157,  163,  171, 
173  f.,  182,  187,  192 

Pythagoras,  100,  102,  138,  163 

Pythia,  83 

Quibel,  152  n. 

Quickener  of  the  dead,  221,  246 

Quintilian,  94 

Qur'an,  202 

Rachel's  grave,   235,  238,   252,  260 

Ramadan,  250 

Ramah,  252 

Ramayana,  60,  72,  98,  123 

Ramses,  II,  166,  180,  193;  III,  180; 

IX,   193 
Rats,  25 
Rawlinson,  225 
Re,   109,   158  f.,   171   f.,   173,   174  f., 

186;    united    with    worshipper, 

173   f.,   176,   195 
Rebirth,   26;   see   Transmigration 
Recall   of  soul,   3,   18,  44,   117,   167 
Reflection,  6 
Re-incarnation,         see         Animals, 

Transmigration 
Relics,  7 
Renouf,  154 
Rephaim,  235,  237 
Request  to  ancestors  to  depart,  149 
Resurrection,    26,    163,    166,    172    f., 

221-223,    246    f-,    275,    280-285, 

294-297 

Resurrection  of  Jesus,  predicted  by 
him,  298;  part  of  earliest 
Christian  teaching,  299  f.,  302; 
proved  by  empty  tomb,  300-302  ; 
proved  by  appearances,  302- 
306;  "swoon  theory,"  299; 
"vision  theory,"  304;  "fraud 
theory,"  304;  culmination  of 
his  life  and  teaching,  306 

Retribution,  limited  to  present  life, 
265,  275  f. ;  collective,  265- 
267,  276-279 ;  individual,  276- 
279;  see  Rewards,  Punish- 
ments 

Revenant,  18 

Rewards,  9,  265,  275,  287  f.,  298; 
see    Retribution 

Rhadamanthus,  109 

Rhesus,  103 


Rhys,  J.,  69  n.,  106  n. 

Rice   for  dead,    120,    138 

Ridgeway,  W.,  129 

Rig  Veda,  60,  68  n.,  72,  76,  108,  112, 
123  f.,  131,  149 

Ritual    texts   for   the    dead,    181 

Rock  tombs,   188  f. 

Rogers,  203  n. 

Rohde,  E.,  69  n.,  74  n.,  97  n.,  103  n., 
121-123,  128,  135,  138,  143,  151 

Romans,  64,  70,  73,  75,  76,  78,  80, 
83.  89,  94,  95,  97,  103,  104, 
105,  no,  in,  114,  115, 
116,  122,  125,  126,  127,  130,  131, 

I35i    I36,    !37»    I38,    139.     14°, 
141,   142,    143,    145,    146,    149 

Romulus,  79 

Rosetta  Stone,   154 

Ross,   J.,    17   n. 

Rilah,  201  f.,  202,  233,  270 

Ruthenians,   62 

Sackcloth  in  mourning,  44,  50,  248 

Sacrifice,  of  animals,  12  f.,  28,  41, 
43,  49,  5i  i;  55  f-,  73,  78,  80, 
97  f.,  131-135,  137,  140,  J97" 
199,  209,  261;  human,  47,  131- 
134,  189  f . ;  originated  in  cult 
of  the  dead,  261  ;  motive  for, 
56,  72,  78;  relation  to  morality, 
56 ;  to  Heaven,  52 ;  to  Heaven 
and  Earth,  41 ;   see  Offerings 

Sadducees,  277  f.,  284,  294  f. 

Saints,  7 

Sakkara,   184 

Salt,  78 

Sam/iain  feast,  146 

Samuel,  ghost  of,  151,  223,  231,  233, 
245,  276   f. 

Sandals,  removed  in  mourning,  249 

Sarcophagi,  121,  182  f.,  188 

Sarganisharri,  223 

Satan,  228,  280 

Satem,  group  of  languages,  61 

Sati  of  widows,  131 

Saul,  236  f.,  245,  249,  256,  259  £., 
266 

Saussaye,  P.  D.  C.  de  la,  69  n. 

Sayings  of  Confucius,  17,   19 

Scarabs,   192 

Scepticism  in  regard  to  immortal- 
ity, 19,  156  f. 

Schafer,   153 

Schrader,  O.,  68  n.,  109,  134 

Schwally,   9,  232  n.,  235 

Scythians,  60,  124 


INDEX 


321 


Seance,  33 

Sebni,   178 

Second-sight,  84 

Seeing   ghosts   dangerous,    10,   89 

Seers,  203 

§ejn,   P.    V.,    1 1 8,    119,    136,    141    f., 

149 
Semites,   66 ;   conception   of   spirits, 

200-210 
Senmut,  158  f. 
Sennacherib,    236 
Serbians,    62 
Serdab,  160 
Serpents,  see   Snakes 
Servius,  130 
Sesostris  III,   176 
Set,  171 

Sethe,  153,  176  n.,  187 
Seti  I,  166,  168,  180 
Seven  heavens,  217 
Shades,  2,  70 

Shadow,   1,  6,  71,  91,  156,  205 
Shahath,  241 
Shamashshumukin,  206 
Shang-ti,  39 
Shechem,  252 
She-chi,  39 
Sheep    as    sacrifices,    74,    132,    137, 

199 
Shelf  for  offerings  to  dead,  45,  49, 

*94 

Shin,  18,  38,  39 

Shen-ch'i,  39 

Shen-kuei,  18 

Shen-nung,  43 

Sheol,  104,  107,  170,  207,  215-223, 
240-247,  269;  names  for,  215- 
241 ;  deep  in  earth,  215  f.,  241 ; 
a  cavern,  214  f.,  241  ;  entrance 
in  west,  216,  241;  reached  by 
crossing  sea,  216,  241;  seven 
divisions,  217,  242;  gates  of, 
170,  217,  220,  242;  watchman 
of,  218-222,  242;  like  grave, 
218,  243;  dark,  218,  243;  dusty, 
218,  243;  king  of,  171  f.,  218, 
243 ;  demons  of,  218,  243  f., 
approached  in  illness,  220, 
222,  246,  286 ;  escaped  by  re- 
turn to  health,  221  f.,  246  f, 
286;  inevitable,  218  f.,  244;  no 
return  from,  221,  246 ;  all 
classes  there,  220  f.,  245  f . ;  life 
similar  to  earth,  221 ;  distinc- 
tions in,  219,  245;  no  distinc- 
tions   of    character,    219,    245; 


outside  the  authority  of  Yah- 
weh,  263  f. ;  no  worship  of 
Yahweh,  264,  271,  275  f . ;  no 
retribution,  265;  unchanged  by 
early  Yahwism,  264;  con- 
scious existence  ceases,  270, 
281-283;  is  eternal  sleep,  272, 
278,  281,  283;  under  Yahweh's 
rule,  274  f . ;  as  punishment  for 
wicked  only,  283  ;  righteous  es- 
cape by  resurrection,  282-285; 
emptied  of  all  the  dead,  283  f . ; 
not  entered  by  righteous,  286- 
289;    retribution   in,  287 

Shih,  23 

Shi-king,  16,  20  n.,  21  n.,  29  n., 
37,  38  n.,  52  n.,  53  n.,  55  n., 
58 

Shou,  51,   53 

Shrines,  ancestral,  42,  49 

Shu-king,  16,  23  n.,  37  n.,  41,  49  n., 
50  n.,  52  n. 

Shun,   22,   23,   49,   51,   52 

Sibyls,    83 

Sibylline  Books,   84 

Sickness,  brings  one  near  Sheol, 
220,    222,    246 

Sihler,  E.   G.,   69  n. 

Silk,  47,  52,   53,   57 

Sinai,  152  f.,  176,  261 

Sincerity  in  sacrifice,  56 

Singing,    57 

Sinuhe,  195 

Sirens,   95 

Sirius,  152 

Sixth  day  after  burial,  142-145 

Skull,  seat  of  spirit,  103  f.,  205; 
trepanned,  3 

Sky,   see   Heaven 

Slaves  buried  with  master,  47,  49, 

131-134 

Slavonians,  62 

Slavs,  62,  63,  71,  79,  94,  97,  98, 
104,  106,  107,  114,  115,  118, 
119,  120,  124,  126,  127,  128, 
130,  133,  134,  136,  140,  141, 
142,   143,   145,   148,  149,   150 

Sleep,   3,  17,  81,  84,  202 

Slovaks,  62 

Slovenes,   62 

Smith,  H.  P.,  243,  262;  S.  A.,  215; 
W.    R.,    10 

Smoke,    2,    6,    70,    91 

Snakes,  25,  96,  97,  98,  162,  203 

Snefru,   176,    185 

Socrates,   101 


322 


INDEX 


Solar,  barque,  158;  immortality, 
172,   187 

Solidarity  of  clan,  265,  276 

Solmsen,   F.,   98   n. 

Solon,    93,    118 

Soma,   108,   112,   116 

Son,  duty  of  sacrificing,  13,  72  f., 
79,  225,  254;  of  God,  290-293; 
of  Man,  287;  of  Re,   172,  175 

Song  of  Harper,  156 

Soped,  176 

Sophocles,  93,   101 

Sothic  cycle,   152 

Soul,  in  primitive  religion,  1  f . ;  in 
China,  17  f.  38;  among  Indo- 
Europeans,  69  f . ;  in  Egypt, 
154-156;  among  Semites,  200 
f. ;  in  Israel,  232  f. ;  etymology 
of  word,  71  ;  value  for  Jesus, 
292  f. ;  see  Spirit. 

Soul-tower,   45 

Sozomen,   251 

Spencer,   Herbert,    14 

Spirit  of  Yahweh,  236,  270 

Spirits  of  the  dead,  primitive  con- 
ception, 2-9;  in  China,  18-39; 
among  Indo-Europeans,  69- 
113,  among  Greeks,  99-101, 
285-289;  in  Egypt,  156-178; 
among  Semites,  201-208;  in 
Babylonia,  211-223;  early  He- 
brew conceptions;  233-239;  in 
early  Yahwism,  257;  in  teach- 
ing of  Prophets,  269-273 ; 
in  Judaism,  280-289 !  in  teach- 
ing of  Jesus,  293-298 ;  names 
for,  2,  18,  69,  154-156,  200  f . ; 
existence  after  death,  2,  18, 
156  f.,  201  f.,  233;  relation  to 
corpse,  7,  35,  163,  165,  205,  232, 
238,  295;  need  food,  2,  20,  54, 
72  f.,  157-159,  224,  233;  powers 
retained,  4,  19,  54,  72,  157-159, 
202,  233  f . ;  powers  gained,  5, 
2°>  73»  1 59-165,  202-205,  234_ 
237;  motion,  5,  73,  159  f., 
202  f. ;  control  of  objects,  5, 
21-24,  75,  160-162,  203,  228,  235, 
see  Images;  write  communica- 
tions, 23 ;  occupy  plants  or 
animals,  5,  24,  76,  94-102, 
162  f.,  203,  227  f.,  235;  ani- 
mate dead  bodies,  26,  163;  re- 
born in  new  bodies,  26,  163 ; 
obsess  the  living,  5,  27  f.,  76, 
163-165,      203,      212-215,      218, 


235  f . ;  possess  the  living,  27, 
80-85,  i^5j  2°3>  235  f • !  appear 
to  men,  4,  32,  85-90,  204  f., 
237;  possess  superior  knowl- 
edge, 4,  6,  19,  20,  28,  31,  90, 
233  f.,  236;  bless  the  living, 
90-91,  149,  159,  234;  injure  the 
living,  76-80,  164,  204,  211-215, 
234;  punish  violation  of 
tombs,  165,  167  f . ;  punish  neg- 
lect of  offerings,  225;  punish 
violation  of  custom,  79;  pow- 
ers lost,  6,  48,  91  f.,  166,  205, 
234>  237  f'i  unsubstantial  char- 
acter, 6,  7,  19,  71,  91,  205,  238, 
261,  275;  feeble  voices,  86; 
rousing  from  death,  144,  166; 
without  habitation,  93  f., 
203  f.,  214  f.,  see  Exposure; 
dwell  in  grave,  36,  102-104, 
165-169,  205,  see  Grave;  dwell 
in  Underworld,  104-107,  169- 
172,  207;  dwell  in  Sky,  37  f., 
128,  172-175,  207;  dwell  in 
Paradise,  95,  107-111,  207; 
dwell  in  Tartarus,  101,  in, 
113;  deified,  9,  39-43,  114,  175- 
178,  223  f.,  258;  vitality  denied 
by  Prophets,  268-273  !  worship 
forbidden  by  Yahweh,  273 ; 
resurrection  asserted  by  Phari- 
sees, 280-285;  immortality 
taught  by  Alexandrians,  285- 
289;  immortality  taught  by 
Jesus,   293 ;   see   Soul 

Spirits  of  Heaven  and  of  Earth,  40 

Sraddha,  143,   146 

Stade,  10,  232  n.,  235 

State  cult  of  dead,  115 

Statues,  see  images 

Steindorff,  161   n. 

Sticks,  moved  by  spirits,  5,  24 

Stone,  occupied  by  spirits,  2,  5,  22, 
66,  75,  203,  209,  273;  see 
Gravestone,  Spirits  occupy  ob- 
jects 

Strabo,   122 

Streck,  226 

Sub-conscious,  6 

Substitutes  for  offerings  in  graves, 
44,  47.  49  f-,  *34  f->  158,  189- 
192 

Succubi,  90 

Suetonius,   88    n. 

Suicides,  237;  of  wives,  47;  burial 
refused,  94 


INDEX 


323 


Sulla,  126 

Sumerians,  an,  214,  215,  230 

Sun,  67,  171 ;  descends  into  Under- 
world, 169  f.,  174,  216,  242; 
rising  type  of  resurrection,  173 

Superi,  141 

Swearing  by  the  dead,  202 

Swedes,  65 

Sleeping  out  of  spirits,   150 

Swine,  possessed  by  spirits,  227; 
for  sacrifices,  79,  137 

Swoons,  3,   17 

Tablet,  ancestral,  22,  23,  37,  39,  42, 
44,  45,  46,  49,  52,  55,  56;  of 
Heaven,  52 

Tabu,  see  Corpse,  Death,  Mourn- 
ing,  Uncleanness 

Tacitus,   128 

Ta-hsioh,  17 

Talisman,   5 

Talks  of  Confucius,  19 

Talmud,  284 

Target  practice,  54 

Tartarus,  101,  111-113 

Tarquinius  Priscus,  84 

Tattooing  for   the   dead,   11,   249 

Telepathy,  6,  82 

Telesthesia,    6,   82 

Tell  el-Amarna  Letters,  175 

Temple,  ancestral,  42  f.,  46,  49,  52, 
55,   187,    189,   194  f. 

Ten-day  feast  after  cremation,  143 

Tennyson,    no 

Teraphim,  235 

Tertullian,  81,  94,  104 

Teti,  173 

Tetisheri,  197 

Teutons,  65,  85,  90,  104,  107,  in, 
126,    127,    128,    129,    130,    131, 

_      134,  136,  139,  145,  147 

i  heoklymenos,    82 

Theos,  71 

Theseus,   103 

Thesprotia,  80 

Thinite   dynasties,   152,   178 

Third   day   after  burial,    142-145 

Thirtieth  day  after  burial,  145 

Thompson,  202  n.,  203  n.,  204  n., 
205  n.,  212  n.,  213  n.,  226  n., 
227  n.,  228  n.,  229  n. 

Thoth,    158 

Thought-transference,  6 

Thumos,   70 

Thunder-god,  67 

Thureau-Dangin,  224  n. 


Thurlow,  E.  K.,  ix 

Thurston,  E.,  86  n. 

Thutmose,   III,    179;   IV,   180 

Thuya,  191 

T'ien,  39 

Tiger,  24 

Ti'u,  213 

Tiy,   191 

Toilet   articles  for  the   dead,    133, 

189,  224 
Tola,  252 
Tombs,    44    f.,    131,    160,    165-169, 

183-189,     197,     201,     224,    233, 

239>    251,    254;    destruction   of, 

168    f. ;    repair    of,    169,    177; 

robbery    of,    47,    165-170,    180, 

187  {.,  191,  193  f.,  206 
Tombstone,   see   Gravestone,   Stone 
Tools,   47,   167 
Toothache  worm,  213 
Torannos,  67 
Torge,  232  n. 
Torquatus,   103 
Tortoise-shell,  22,  25 
Totemism,    5 
Towers  of  Silence,  86 
Toys  in  children's  graves,  135 
Translation   of   men,   219,   244 
Transmigration,  98,  162  f. 
Treasures    in   graves,   47,    53,    131, 

132,    133,    180,    189,    193,    254; 

see  Jewelry,  Ornaments,   Gold 
Trees,   76,   261 
Trench,    sacrificial,   73,    105   f.,    141 

151,  261  f. 
Tronis,    140 
Trophonius,  97 
Tso-chuan,  17 

Tubes  into  graves,  72,   140 
Tullus,  103 

Tumuli,  45,    130,    184;    see  Mound 
Twentieth    day    after    burial,    143, 

145 

Ulysses,   7,   105  f . ;   see   Odysseus 

Unburied  dead,  8,  27,  36,  85  f., 
93  f.,  203  f.,  206,  212,  220,  238, 
245;  see  Burial 

Unclean,  see  Corpse,  Death,  Dis- 
ease,  Grave,   Mourning 

Underworld,  abode  of  spirits,  74, 
80,  83,  104-107,  123,  125,  137, 
169-172,  241;  see  Dewat, 
Hades,    Hell,   Orcus,    Sheol 

Uni,  182 

Unis,  166,  174,  187 


324 


INDEX 


Unnatural   deaths,   203,  212 

Untimely  deaths,  4,  85  f.,  204 

Upanishads,  60 

Ur,  dynasty  of,  223 

Ur-Engur,  223  f. 

Urim  and  Thummim,  260 

Usener,   H.,  68   n.,  98  n.,   123 

Ushebtis,  191  f. 

Utensils,  12 

Ut-napishtim,  216  f.,  219 

Utukku,  202 

Valerius  Maximus,  92,  102,  106 

Valhalla,   109,   m 

Valkyries,   74,   in 

Vampires,  212 

Varuna,   62 

Vases,  decorated,  135 

Vatinius,  151 

Vedas,  69,  90,  98,  107,  114,  123,  126, 

138 
Vegetables,  53 
Vergil,  76,  81,  83,  97,  106 
Veselovskij,  A.  N.,  109 
Vessels  in  graves,  47,  133-135,  224, 

251;  broken  for  the  dead,  209, 

251 
Vielona,  109,  147 
Violent  deaths,   85,  86,  204 
Volves,  85 

Wail,  209 ;  see  Lament 

Wake,  120 

Warren,  215 

Water  for  dead,  13,  53,  90,  120, 
137  f.,  140,  143  f.,  166,  197, 
199,  206,  209,  220,  225  f., 
230  f. ;  poured  out  at  death, 
1 16;  sprinkled  on  dying,  116, 
222;  holy,  222;  of  life,  159, 
219  f.,  222,  287;  of  death,  217, 
242 

Weapons  for  the  dead,  12,  27,  47, 
66,  119,  131,  133,  135,  189,  224, 
251 

Weicker,  G.,  95  n.,  217  n. 

Wellhausen,  202,  203  n.,  205  n., 
206  n.,  207  n.,  208  n.,  209  n. 

Welsh,  64,   106,  no 

Wen,   21,   37,  38,  42,   51 

Wends,   62,    133    f. 

Weshptah,  182 

West  =  Underworld,  157,  170  f., 
183,  196,  216  f.,  241 

Westerners,  name  for  Dead,  170  f., 
183 


Westminster   Confession,  297  f. 
White  Russians,   62  f.,   114  f.,   119, 

133.    142,    i44»    i4S»    !48   f-,   150 
Wild   animals  for  the  dead,   199 
Wilde,  Lady,  104  n. 
Wilkenson,   181 
Winckler,  H.,  61 
Wind,  name  of  spirit,  201,  202,  205, 

233,  270;  spirits  manifested  in, 

.  74 
Window,    opened    at    death,    116 
Wine    for    dead,    13,    52,    73,    79, 

137  f.,   140,   189,   199 
Wisdom,  Book  of,  285,  295 
Wissowa,  W.,   97   n. 
Witches,   151 
Wives   buried    with    husbands,   47, 

49,    131-134,    189    f . ;    in    other 

world,    47,    49,     131-134.     157, 

189 
Woden,   74 

Wolves,  possessed  by  spirits,  25,  98 
Women  as  mediums,  29-35,  259 
Words,  magic  power,  230 
Worship,   see  Cult 
Writing  by  mediums,   32 
Written  records  in  graves,  224 
Wu,     Emperor,     29,     51,     53,     57; 

medium,  29,  42,  59 

Xenophon,   125 

Yahweh,  causes  disease,  236;  sends 
evil  spirit,  236;  causes  inspira- 
tion, 236;  brings  up  from 
Sheol,  246;  punishes  dead 
through  children,  255,  267;  at- 
titude toward  spirits,  257; 
retribution  limited  to  this 
life,  265;  breath  in  man,  270; 
delivers  from  Sheol,  286;  for- 
bids cult  of  the  dead,  252  f., 
254,  256,  258-263 ;  appropri- 
ated functions  of  spirits, 
259  f . ;  absorbed  the  spirits, 
260;  took  cult  of  dead,  260- 
262;  tolerated  mourning, 
262  f . ;  did  not  rule  in  Sheol, 
262  f.,  not  worshipped  in 
Sheol,  264;  no  retribution  in 
Sheol,  265;  dealt  with  men 
collectively,  265-267,  276; 
righteousness  in  Prophets, 
269 ;  forbade  cult  of  dead, 
273  ;  forbade  mourning,  273  f. ; 
the  only  god  for  the  Prophets, 


INDEX  325 


269;   power  extended  to  Sheol,       Yin,  38,  52,  59 
C74    f . ;    raises    the    dead,    281-      Yii,  23,  50 
285  Yule-log,  147 

Yama,   78,   107   f.,   123,   144  Yuya,    191 

Yang,  principle  of  universe,  38,  59 
Yang,   sacrifice,  58  Zadok,   277 

Yao,   16,  49  Zau,  167,   179 

Yarrow,  23  Zend,  60 

Y'tyu),  156  Ziggurat,  184 

Y'idde'oni,  236  Zimmern,    215 

Yih-king,   16,  23  Zoroaster,   60 

Yima,  108  f.  Zoser,  176,  184 


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